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X 



PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC 
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE 
INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNMENT RESEARCH 



STUDIES IN ADMINISTRATION 

The System of Financial Administration of Great Britain 

By W. F. Willoughby, W. W. Willoughby and S. M. Lindsay 
The Budget 

By Rene Slourm 

T. Plazinski, Translator, W. F. McCaleb, Editor 
The Canadian Budgetary System 

By H. G. Villard and W. W. Willoughby 
The Problem of a National Budget 

By W. F. Willoughby 
The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States 

By W. F. Willoughby 
Teachers' Pension Systems in the United States 

By Paul Studensky 
Organized Efforts for the Improvement of Methods of Ad- 
ministration in the United States 

By Guslavus A. Weber 
The Federal Service: A Study of the System of Personnel 

Administration of the United States Government 

By Lewis Mayers 
The Systeni of Financial Administration of the United 

States (In preparation) 

PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATION 

Principles Governing the Retirement of Public Employees 

By Lewis Meriam 
Principles of Government Purchasing 

By A. G. Thomas 
Principles of Government Accounting and Reporting 

By Francis Oakey, C.P.A. 
Principles of Public Personnel Administration 

By Arthur W. Procter 

SERVICE MONOGRAPHS OF THE UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT 
The United States Geological Survey 
The Reclamation Service 
The Bureau of Mines (In preparation) 
The Public Health Service (In preparation) 
The Bureau of War Risk Insurance (In preparation) 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 



PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTR ATION 

THE INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNMENT RESEARCH 

PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC 
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 



BY 

ARTHUR W. PROCTER 




D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK LONDON 

1921 






Copyright, 1921, by 
THE INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNMENT RESEARCH ^ 



^. 



Printed in the United States of America 

JAN -B !922 Q 
^ni,A654128 • 



THE INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNMENT RESEARCH 
Washington, D. C. 



The Institute for Government Research is an association of citizens 
for cooperating with public officials in the scientific study of govern- 
ment with a view to promoting efficiency and economy in its operations 
and advancing the science of administration. It aims to bring into 
existence such information and materials as will aid in the formation 
of public opinion and will assist officials, particularly those of the 
national government, in their efforts to put the public administration 
upon a more efficient basis. 

To this end, it seeks by the thorough-going study and examination 
of the best administrative practice, public and private, American and 
foreign, to formulate those principles which lie at the basis of all 
sound administration, and to determine their proper adaptation to the 
specific needs of our public administration. 

The accomplishment of specific reforms the Institute recognizes to 
be the task of those who are charged with the responsibility of legis- 
lation and administration ; but it seeks to assist, by scientific study and 
research, in laying a solid foundation of information and experience 
upon which such reforms may be successfully built. 

While some of the Institute's studies find application only in the 
form of practical cooperation with the administrative officers directly 
concerned, many are of interest to other administrators and of general 
educational value. The results of such studies the Institute purposes 
to publish in such form as will insure for them the widest possible 
utilization. 



Robert S. Brookings, 

Chairman 



Edwin A. Alderman 
Robert S. Brookings 
James F. Curtis 
R. Fulton Cutting 
Frederic A. Delano 
George Eastman 
Raymond B. Fosdick 
Felix Frankfurter 



t 



Officers 
Frank J. Goodnow, 

Vice-Chairman 

James F. Curtis, 

Secretary 

^ Trustees 
Edwin F. Gay 
Frank J. Goodnow 
Jerome D. Greene 
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Director 
W. F. Willoughby 



Frederick Strauss, 

Treasurer 



Charles D. Norton 
Martin A. Ryerson 
Frederick Strauss 
Silas H. Strawn 
William H. Taft 
Ray Lyman Wilbur 
Robert S. Woodward 



PREFACE 

The present volume is the reverse of a pretentious undertaking. 
It has as its sole purpose to furnish a brief introduction to the 
study of the problem that confronts all governments of securing 
and maintaining an efficient personnel. The preparation of such 
a study was thought worth while due to the extreme complexity 
of the problem and the wide attention that is now being paid to 
the subject. 

One has but to run through this volume, or the more elaborate 
one being published about the same time, by the Institute for 
Government Research, giving a detailed examination of the per- 
sonnel system of the federal government, to appreciate the large 
number of distinct factors entering into the problem of an efficient 
public personnel system, all of which must be properly provided 
for if a satisfactory system of personnel administration is to be 
secured. These factors, moreover, are largely of a technical char- 
acter. They involve, not merely general principles, such as that 
underlying the merit system, but the determination of the character 
of organization and procedure that shall be employed in putting 
these principles into execution, the nature of the tests that shall 
be made use of in selecting new employees, the manner in which 
employees shall be classified for the purpose of fixing their com- 
pensation, controlling their opportunities for promotion, etc., the 
means to be employed in determining the relative efficiency of 
employees engaged in the same or collateral lines of work, the 
nature of the personnel records to be maintained, and scores of 
other details. These are all questions that can only be answered 
after intensive and technical studies of them have been made. 

Finally, there is raised in respect to almost every one of them 
the important question of the extent to which the effort should be 
made to fix conditions by statutory enactments or to leave discre- 
tion in respect of them to administrative authorities, and, if the 
latter policy is adopted, the extent to which this discretion shall 

vii 



Vlll 



PREFACE 



be placed in the hands of those officers who are in direct charge 
of the operating services or shall be vested in a general personnel 
agency. 

Only a relatively few persons can be expected to concern them- 
selves with the technical phases of this problem. There are many, 
however, who ought to have a fairly comprehensive grasp of the 
nature and scope of the problem as a whole. Especially is this 
true of the members of our national, state, and local legislative 
bodies, who are called upon to consider proposals looking to a 
reorganization of the personnel system of the governments with 
which they are connected, and the superior administrative officers 
of such governments. It is to this class that the present volume 
is chiefly addressed. 

The author, Mr. Arthur W. Procter, has for years been directly 
concerned, as a member of the staff of the late President's Com- 
mission on Economy and Efficiency, the New York Bureau of 
Municipal Research, and the Institute for Government Research, 
with the study of problems of personnel administration; and, in 
1915-1916 had charge of the investigation work of the important 
inquiry regarding the standardization of public employments of 
the state made by the Senate Committee on Civil Service of 
New York State. In one or the other of these capacities he made 
a personal study of the personnel systems of those states and 
cities that had made the most progress in recent years in the 
improvement of their systems for the handling of personnel 
matters. It is not to be expected that the positions taken by the 
author will in all cases be accepted. They represent, however, 
the conclusions that have been reached by one who has had 
exceptional opportunities for the prosecution of studies in this 
field, and will at least be suggestive and serve to open up the 
subject in a broad way. 

The author writes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. D. 
W. Fisher of the University of Minnesota, who gave very valu- 
able assistance in the preparation and editing of the manuscript 
of this volume. 

W. F. WiLLOUGHBY 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 



PAGE 

I. History of Public Employment i 

Early Conditions 2 

The "Spoils System" 2 

Recent Conditions . ;. . 4 

II. A Public Employment Program ....... 9 

The Need of a Constructive Program 9 

Extension of the Merit System I3 

Establishment of Adequate and Uniform Compensation . 17 

Establishment of a Retirement System 19 

Multiplying Opportunities for Promotion 20 

Extension of the Functions of the Civil Service Commission 22 

Creation of Esteem for the Public Service .... 25 

II. The Civil Service Commission 27 

Legal Status of a Civil Service Commission .... 27 

Selection of a Civil Service Commission 2^ 

Quasi-legislative Functions 31 

Quasi- judicial Functions 34 

Executive Functions 3^ 

Organization of a Civil Service Commission .... 38 

V. Standardization of Public Employment 41 

Purpose of Standardization 41 

Adoption of Standardization 47 

Principal Features of a Standardization Program ... 48 

Current Revision of Standards 62 

Enforcement of Standards 63 

V. The Conduct of a Standardization Inquiry . . . . 65 

Need for Special Staff 65 

Ex-officio Staff Assistance and Leadership Inadequate . . O7 

Legal Status of Administrative Agency ^ 

Cooperation of All Factors Essential . .... 68 

Facilities Afforded by the Executive Departments . . 70 

Facilities Afforded by Civil Service Commission . . >* 7^ 
ix 



CHAPTER 



1 



CONTENTS 

FACE 

Facilities Afforded by Local Citizen Research Agencies . 73 

Facilities Afforded by Private Employers 73 

Facilities Afforded by Other Governments and Outside Re- 
search Agencies . •- 74 

Special Citizen Advisory Groups 74 

Collection of Data as to Existing Employment Conditions . 74 

Independent Verification of Records by Staff Examiners . 83 

Summary Observations as to Irregularities .... 85 

Use of Studies of Organization ....... 85 

Inquiry into Standards of Civil Service Examinations . . 89 
Standards of Examinations and Conditions Governing Pro- 
motion 90 

^ Formulation of the Classification 9°/ 

The Division into Qasses or Grades 93 

The Wisconsin Method of Grading Clinical Positions . . 94 

Tabulation and Classification of Primary Work Elements . 95 

- Use of Classification Chart 99 

Qinical Classification of the Congressional Commission . 100 

Revision of Specifications 105 

Review of Specifications I05 

Determining Standards of Compensation .... lOS 
Appraisal of Employments on the Basis of Standard Speci- 
fications 107 

Tentative Appraisals by Staff Examiners 108 

Investigation of Positions Appraised Out of Grade . .110 

Review of Appraisals no 

VI. Recruiting and Selection m 

Examination as the Basis of Selection in 

The Examining Agency II3 

Factors of Civil Service Examinations nS 

The Written Examination 121 I 

The Practical Examination I33 

The Rating of Experience I3S | 

The Rating of Education I39 , 

The Physical Examination 139 \ 

The Oral Examination : . 141 1 

Advertising Civil Service Examinations 146 i 

Certification and Appointment . 148 1 

1 

VII. Training iSi ; 

Training for Entrance to Public Employment .... 151 

Training for Increased Usefulness in Public Employment . 155 j 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VIII. Rating and Control of Indhtidual Efficiency .... 162 

The Problem of Efficiency Ratings ...... 162 

The Rating System 164 

The Rating Organization ......:. ..; . . 168 

Preparation of Ratings 169 

Inspection of Ratings by Employees ..... .; 170 

The Use of Efficiency Ratings . . . .j . . . 171 

IX. Advancement and Promotion .......... 173 

The Problem of Promotion . 173 

The Distinction between Advancement and Promotion . . 177 

Provision for Advancement ., 178 

Administration of Advancement 178 

Provision for Promotion ......... 180 

Administration of Promotion . 185 

X. Employees' Representation 189 

APPENDICES 

1. Civil Service Commissions in the United States Classi- 

fied According to Legal Conditions of Control . . 195 

2. Standard Civil Service Laws for States and Cities 

Drafted by National Civil Service Reform League . 201 

3. Bibliographic Note _. 235 



PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC 
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

CHAPTER I 
HISTORY OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT 

The problem of employment as it relates to private 
enterprise has of late years been given a great deal of 
attention. The corresponding problem, as it relates to 
the selection, retention, and development of workers in 
the service of our various governments, has received 
comparatively little attention. Yet the national govern- 
ment is the largest single employer in the country; and 
all of our governments taken together carry on their 
payrolls approximately 2,000,000 employees. In view 
of the number of persons directly concerned, and in view 
of the well known fact that conditions in the service 
of our various governments are far from being satis- 
factory, the problem of public employment is worthy of 
serious and constructive consideration. 

In the following pages this problem is considered, 
existing conditions are briefly described, and remedial 
measures proposed. The discussion is limited to em- 
ployment as it is carried on, or should be carried on, by 
civil service commissions in the national government 
and in the various state, city, and other local govern- 
ments. As ah introduction to the study of this problem, 
the several phases of the history of public employment 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

in this country since the founding of the national gov- 
ernment are presented in summary form. 
Early Conditions. The first period extended from 
1789 to 1829, the year which marked the end of the 
administration of John Quincy Adams. It was a period 
in which public employees were selected and retained 
without regard to any formal method, but on the whole 
with wisdom and fairness. 

During this time public employment presented a 
comparatively simple problem. In 1800 the total num- 
ber of civilian employees in the national service did not 
exceed 3,,ooo. The selection of men for the more im- 
portant positions was handled directly by the President 
or the members of his Cabinet in accordance with a 
strong sense of responsibility to the electorate of the 
country. No restrictions, such as exist to-day, had been 
imposed on the power of appointment and removal, but 
competent men were generally chosen for public office 
and employment, and they were generally retained in the 
public service as long as they performed their duties 
honestly and effectively. 

The conditions in the national service were some- 
what better than those that existed in the various state 
and municipal governments. As early as 1801 the con- 
ception of appointment to public office as an incident of 
party victory had been introduced into the administra- 
tion of the government of New York State. 
The "Spoils System." The second period of public 
employment, which extended from 1829 to 1883, was 
dominated by the principles and practices known as thei 
"spoils system." The foundation of this system had' 
been laid in 1820 in the "Tenure of Office Act,," which 
provided that "district attorneys, collectors of the cus- 
toms, navy agents, receivers of public moneys for lands, 
/ 2 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT 

registers of the land office, paymasters in the army, the 
apothecary-general, assistant apothecaries-general, and 
the commissary-general of purchases" shall be "remov- 
able from office at pleasure." When President Jackson 
came into office in 1829 he availed himself fully of the 
powers conferred under this act, and proceeded to es- 
tablish firmly the system of spoliation. The underlying 
idea of this system was expressed in the slogan: "To 
the victor belong the spoils." In the course of eight 
years Jackson removed from office more men than had 
been removed in the 40 years preceding his administra- 
tion, and he filled the vacancies thus created, as well as 
other vacancies which occurred in the civil service, by 
appointing his partisan supporters. The acquiescence 
of the people in the spoils system, as Bryce has pointed 
out, was explained in part by the fact "that the admin- 
istration used to be conducted in a happy-go-lucky way, 
that the citizens, accustomed to helping themselves, re- 
lied very little on their functionaries, and did not care 
whether they were skillful or not, and that it was so 
easy and common for a man who fell out of one kind 
of business to take up and make his living by another, 
that deprivation seemed to involve little hardship." ^ 

Under the successors of Jackson the spoils system 
continued to flourish. It dominated the selection of pub- 
lic employees and exercised a potent influence over the 
whole of American political life. In 1846 Calhoun de- 
clared in the Senate: "The presidential election is no 
longer a struggle for great principles, but only a struggle 
as to who shall have the spoils of office." Both parties 
accepted and acted upon this principle. Victory at the 
polls was considered authorization to turn out of office 
all incumbents who had been appointed by the opposition. 
* American Commonwealth, 1910 ed., vol. ii, p. 140. 

3 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Offices and jobs in the civil service were regarded as 
patronage, to be used in building up and strengthening 
the party machine. Men were chosen for public office 
or employment primarily with regard to their usefulness 
to the party organization, and only incidentally with 
regard to their competence to carry on the business of 
the government. 

Throughout this period vigorous protests were made 
from time to time against the system, but they produced 
no substantial results until the last two decades of the 
nineteenth century. 

During this period the same system dominated the 
various state and municipal services. Public employ- 
ment was conducted very largely in the interest of the 
party organization rather than in the interest of the 
people as a whole or of the great body of public em- 
ployees. 

Recent Conditions. The third period extends from 
1883 to the present. During this period the more 
flagrant abuses of the spoils system have been mitigated, 
and considerable progress in the administration of 
public employment has been achieved. 

The national government, as well as the various state 
and municipal governments, had grown greatly in size 
and complexity. The number of national employees 
had increased to about 100,000 in 1880, and the ordinary 
revenues had increased from $10,000,000 in 1800 to 
$333,000,000 in 1880. Considered by itself the efficient 
administration of the growing and intricate functions 
of government made imperative the introduction of a 
definite and business-like system, designed to regulate 
the selection and retention of public employees. 

But there was another factor. The people had begun 
to realize that the spoils system was a grave danger to 

4 



HISI'ORY OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT 

the integrity of the poHtical life of the country. A 
publication issued in 1882 by the National Civil Service 
Reform Association stated: "The country can be ex- 
travagant and spend a third more than is really neces- 
sary for transacting its business without serious danger, 
although a wise nation would not tolerate such waste. 
But it cannot maintain, without great and constant 
peril, a 'system which converts the enormous and 
extravagant expenditure for public salaries into a 
political bribery held at the disposition of a few men 
in every state." The people finally revolted against 
the spoils system, not primarily because it was wasteful 
and inefficient, but because it represented a grave danger 
to the free expression of the popular will through 
elections. 

The movement for civil service reform resulted in 
the passage of the national Civil Service Act in 1883. 
This was a substantial, though not a complete, victory 
for the merit principle. The law provided for a national 
Civil Service Commission and it placed under the 
jurisdiction of that commission all the positions of the 
so-called classified service. It also provided that ap- 
pointment to the classified service should be made, [so 
far as practicable, on the basis of open competitive 
examination and that national employees should be free 
from the necessity — which had prevailed up to that 
time — of contributing to campaign funds and of render- 
ing political services. 

Following the passage of this act the reform move- 
ment achieved important successes in variouls state and 
municipal governments. A civil service commission, 
with powers similar to those of the national commission, 
was established in New York State in 1883. Similar 
commissions have been established in Illinois, Ohio, 

5 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Wisconsin, 
Kansas, Connecticut, Colorado, and Maryland. Civil 
service commissions have also been established in about 
250 municipal governments." Among the larger cities 
in which public employment is administered by civil 
service commissions are New York, Chicago, San F'ran- 
cisco, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, 
Buffalo, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Los 
Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle, Rochester, St. Paul, 
Denver, Portland (Ore.), Syracuse, and Albany. Some 
counties,, notably Los Angeles County, Cal., Cook 
County, 111., and Milwaukee County, Wis., have al'so 
established civil service commissions. 

In some of the local jurisdictions named above, the 
administration of public employment is handled to-day 
more strictly in accordance with the merit principle and 
more effectively than in the national government. 

The movement for civil service reform, however, 
has not received recognition in all state and municipal 
jurisdictions. It has been extended to less than one- 
fourth of the (state governments, and it has not been 
adopted in some of the larger cities. Furthermore, even 
in jurisdictions in which the merit system is nominally 
in force, it is not applied in selecting the incumbents 
of all civil service positions. In the national service many 
positions are still "unclassified," or, if classified, they 
are filled without regard to examination requirements. 
In the state and city services a similar condition is 
found. The reform movement has not completely 
substituted the merit system for the spoils system. It 
has not entirely attained its objective. 

And the original civil service reform movement set 
for itself an essentially incomplete objective. It was 
interested chiefly in the reform of the political conditions 

6 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT 

which surround public employment. It aimed to impose 
definite checks and restrictions on administrative au- 
thority over appointment and removal. In imposing 
such restrictions, this movement has accomplished re- 
sults which are a necessary preliminary to a sound 
administration of public employment, but it has failed 
in large part to supplement its negative program with 
a strong positive program. It has not been interested 
to any marked extent in the improvement of the internal 
conditions of the public service as they affect the welfare 
of the individual employee or the development of a 
competent and efficient civil service personnel. Nor has 
it responded to the complex and growing requirements 
of the public service by formulating an adequately 
positive and constructive employment program. 

A modern system of public employment presents a 
problem of great complexity. The national service 
includes approximately 745,000 employees, representing 
an annual expenditure of $700,000,000 or about 40 per 
cent of the operative cost of government. These em- 
ployees are engaged in several thousand distinct classes 
of employment; in various clerical services, in'spectional, 
customs and revenue services, skilled and unskilled labor 
services, and scientific and professional services. Apart 
from the work which is peculiar to the needs of the 
government, they are engaged in practically every kind 
of activity found in modern enterprise. 

The states and larger cities present a similarly 
complex employment problem. A representative state 
or city government is a great enterprise, carrying on 
its payroll thousands of workers engaged in a great 
variety of occupations. New York State has, in its 
civil service, approximately 22,000 employees ; Pennsyl- 
vania, approximately 15,000; and Illinois, approxi- 

7 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

mately 7,000. The City of New York, including the 
teaching personnel, has about 100,000 public employees,^ 
representing an annual payroll of approximately $130,- 
000,000. 

In response to the complex problem presented in a 
modern system of public employment, the so-called 
"standardization" movement came into existence in the 
first decade of this century. This movement is essen- 
tially a response to the demand for a business-like and 
efficient administration of our national, state, and city 
governments. It is, in a sense, an outgrowth of the 
earlier civil service reform movement, but it places a 
new and positive emphasis on the need of discovering 
concrete ways and means of improving the internal 
conditions of public employment. It has laid particular 
stress on the establishment of scientific classification 
of public employments, and on the establishment of 
adequate and uniform rates of compensation. This 
movement has accomplished results of considerable 
value in New York State, Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and in New York City, 
Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Rochester, Denver, 
and other jurisdictions ; and it gives promise of valuable 
results in the national government. It has only a 
limited record of actual achievement to its credit to 
date, but it contains the promise of future constructive 
achievement of great significance. 

2 The number of employees under the jurisdiction of the New 
York Municipal Civil Service Commission is about 53,000. 



CHAPTER II 

A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

The Need of a Constructive Program. The present 
state of public employment in the national government, 
and in the various state and local governments, is 
unsatisfactory to the public at large, to public employees, 
and to responsible administrative officers. The public 
has suffered from impaired and ineffective service. 
Public employees have suffered from inadequate rates 
of pay and other unsatisfactory conditions of public 
employment. Administrative officers have found it 
difficult to recruit and retain a competent government 
personnel. This has been especially marked in the 
postal service and in the teaching service of our local 
governments. 

A commission appointed by Congress in March, 
191 9, has recently issued an instructive report on 
conditions in the service at Washington. This report 
contains the following statement:^ 

The Commission finds that there is serious discontent, ac- 
companied by an excessive turnover and loss, among the best 
trained and most efficient employees; that the morale of the 
personnel has been impaired; that the national service has be- 
come unattractive, to a desirable type of technical employee; 
and that the Government has put itself in the position of wast- 
ing funds on the one hand and doing serious injustice to in- 
dividuals on the other. . . . 

^ Report of the Congressional Joint Commission on Reclassification 
of Salaries, 1920, part I, p. 54. This document will be referred to 
hereafter as the Report of the Congressional Joint Commission. 

9 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

The so-called labor or personnel turnover is now 
generally regarded as an index to the state of mind 
prevailing among the employees of any establishment; 
a large turnover being indicative of unrest and general 
demoralization. In general terms, the annual turnover 
may be computed by dividing the number of separations, 
from the establishment in question by the average 
number of employees carried on the payroll. The report 
of the Congressional Joint Commission brings out the 
fact that the turnover in the service at Washington was 
5.5 per cent during the year 1914; that it rose to 11 
per cent during 1916; that it reached a maximum of 40 
per cent during 19 19; and that it receded to 33 per cent 
during the first half of the fiscal year 1919-1920. A 
personnel turnover of 33 per cent — figured, as it is in this 
case, without taking account of the separations due to re- 
ductions in force — is abnormally high, and is indicative 
of a serious state of unrest and impaired efficiency. This 
report declares:^ 

The most conspicuous advances in the rate of turnover 
have been among scientific-technical employees. In six bureaus 
for which complete information is available and comprising a 
total of 2,765 employees, the turnover among scientific-tech- 
nical employees has advanced from 12 per cent in 1916 to 69 
per cent in 19 19. The increase in the rate of turnover of 
clerks in the same bureaus and comprehending approximately 
the same numbers, was from 12 per cent in 19 16 to 29 per 
cent in 19 19. In other words, the rate among scientific em- 
ployees advanced over three times as f^st as among clerical 
employees. In some bureaus the conditions are even more , 
striking. In the Bureau of Standards, for example, the rate 
of increase among scientific employees has jumped from 28 • 
per cent in 1916 to 161 per cent in 1919. * 

The high rate of turnover among scientific and ) 

technical employees becomes especially significant when .' 

^ Ibid., p. 55' I 

10 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

consideration is had of the fact that these employees 
constitute, in large measure, the directing force of the 
government. 

Similar conditions of excessive turnover and im- 
paired morale and efficiency exist, in only a slightly 
less degree, in the various state and municipal govern- 
ments. 

Ultimately the people themselves must take the 
initiative in bringing about any marked improvement 
of government employment. A government occupies a 
unique position. It is not in the position of a private 
commercial enterprise. It is not required to make a 
profit in competition with other similar enterprises. It 
may be extravagant and inefficient without going into 
bankruptcy. It is not required automatically, by the 
forces of competition, to be economical and efficient. 
A government must indeed compete in the "labor mar- 
ket" for some of the services which it requires, but it is 
not compelled by the forces of competition to recruit and 
maintain an efficient personnel. Moreover, it is not re- 
quired to pay a liberal or even an adequate wage to its 
personnel, because many groups of public employees can 
find no immediate outlet for their highly specialized 
training in outside employment. A government oper- 
ates, in many respects, outside the sphere of ordinary 
economic forces. Only the people themselves can com- 
pel a government, on the one hand, to maintain an ef- 
ficient personnel, and, on the other, to pay its personnel 
a fair and adequate wage. 

There is every indication that the people are now in 
a mood to demand economy and efficiency in public 
employment as in other matters of government. The 
high taxes following the war have made economy im- 
perative. The achievements during the war period 

II 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

have raised somewhat our standards of efficiency. At 
the same time, there is a growing- recognition of the fact 
that efficient performance on the part of public em- 
ployees must be rewarded by equitable terms and 
conditions of employment. 

The problem of public employment is closely con- 
nected with other problems of government. To main- 
tain a truly efficient government personnel it is necessary 
to devise and maintain efficient government machinery. 
Commenting on the national government, Franklin D. 
Roosevelt, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 
recently said: 

There exists an overlapping and duplication of administra- 
tive work in the different departments. New activities have 
grown up in or been assigned to departments with little regard 
to good business methods. A large part of this work should 
be reassigned, and much of it now scattered between different 
departments should be consolidated in one. According to data 
recently collected, 25 federal agencies do mapping work, 30 
make chemical investigations, 27 have authority to build 
hydraulic works, 2.2 to make engineering researches, etc. 

The Congressional Joint Commission observed a 
number of opportunities for the improvement of gov- 
ernment machinery. It found : ^ 

Complex, indefinite, poorly designed organization; inade- 
quate provisions for administrative control and supervision; 
apparent duplication between departments and within depart- 
ments ; conflict of authority and overlapping of functions ; over- 
manning : unstandardized procedure ; unnecessary records ; and 
other unbusiness-like methods. 

The result of the unbusiness-like methods that 
obtain in the national government has also been strik- 
ingly characterized by Franklin K. Lane, former 
Secretary of the Interior : 

^Ibid., p. no. 

12 I 



i 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

Every one seems to be afraid of every one. The self-pro- 
tective sense is developed abnormally, the creative sense 
atrophies. Trust, confidence, enthusiasm — these simple virtues 
of all great business — are the ones most lacking in govern- 
ment organization. We have so many checks and brakes upon 
our work that our progress does not keep pace with the nation's 
requirements. 

The lack of organization obtains particularly in the 
national government. In some of the state and city 
governments, the situation is not so backward. On the 
whole, however, the organization of governmental 
machinery in this country lags considerably behind 
accomplishments in the field of business and industry, 
and well behind what could be accomplished by the 
application of good will and intelligence in the field of 
government. 

The improvement of government personnel cannot 
make headway apart from the improvement of gov- 
ernmental machinery. It must be accompanied by the 
consolidation of services, the elimination of unnecessary 
positions, direct and effective methods of doing work 
and of transacting business, a budget system as the basis 
of all appropriations, and competent and inspiring 
leadership. 

But the improvement of government personnel 
constitutes to a certain extent a separate and peculiar 
problem. It requires for its accomplishment the adop- 
tion of specific measures of employment policy and 
administration. Consideration will now be given to 
some of the more important measures that may be 
expected to lead to an improvement of the present state 
of public employment. 

Extension of the Merit System. It is a basic require- 
ment of progress in public employment that the merit 
system should be extended. The merit system is the 

13 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

underlying idea of civil service legislation. It aims to 
eliminate personal favoritism and political preference, 
and to establish impartiality in the conduct of public 
employment. It accomplishes this end, in the main, by 
throwing safeguards around the appointment, promo- 
tion, and removal of public employees. It requires that 
appointment and promotion shall be made on the basis 
of examination, usually a competitive examination, 
though in some circumstances a qualifying or non- 
competitive examination. It also requires that removal 
shall be made only for bona fide reasons, and after the 
employee shall have been given a fair hearing. The 
merit system thus insures the use of fair and effective 
methods in the selection and subsequent promotion of 
public employees, and it affords to public employees 
reasonable security of tenure. 

The merit system, as has been indicated, wa!s intro- 
duced in this country in 1883. It is a necessary means 
of combating the waste, inefficiency, and political 
corruption which attend the imcurbed operation of the 
spoils system. It does not afford a solution, however, 
of all the problems that arise in the administration of 
government employment, but rather clears the ground 
of the grosser political obstructions that stand in the 
way of a proper solution of these problems. 

This system, which is nominally in force in the 
national government and in a number of state and 
municipal governments, should be extended and applied 
in a thorough-going manner. 

In discussing the feasibility of a thorough applica- 
tion of the merit system to all, or practically all, of the \ 
positions in the executive branch of a government, a 
distinction is commonly drawn between political and 
non-political positions. Political positions are commonly 

14 I 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM , 

defined as policy-determining. In the executive branch 
of the national government they include the Presidency, 
the Cabinet offices, the headships of the bureaus, etc. 
In the state governments, they include the governorship, 
the headships of the principal departments, etc. Non- 
political positions are defined as those which do not 
involve policy-making. These positions include the 
great bulk of employments in the executive branch of 
the national, state, and municipal governments. They 
involve the duty of executing the policy or carrying out 
the work which has been decided upon by the responsible 
administrative heads of the government. 

The merit system, as a method of selection, is not 
applicable to positions of a truly policy-determining 
character. The incumbents of these positions should 
be, above all things, responsive to the will of the people. 
Some of these officers are, and should be, chosen by 
election. Some of them, who are called upon to inter- 
pret or aid in determining fundamental matters of 
policy are, and well may be, chosen by executive appoint- 
ment. These officers cannot well be selected according 
to the merit system, on the basis of their standing in 
an examination. , , 

But the merit system is applicable to a great many 
more positions in the executive branch of our national, 
state, and municipal governments than it has ever been 
applied to. It should be applied to many of the positions 
that are commonly held to be political, but which, in 
fact, are not political or policy-determining in character. 
By a liberal use of the short ballot, a number of these 
positions should be eliminated from the list of offices 
now filled by election, and should be placed under civil 
service regulations. A number of them should be 
eliminated from the list of offices now filled by executive 

15 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

appointment, and should be filled according to the ex- 
amination requirements of the merit system. Moreover, 
the merit system should be applied to all, or practically 
all, of those public employments which are not, and 
which have never been seriously held to be, policy- 
determining in character. It should be applied to the 
great mass of government positions involving clerical 
and commercial work, manual labor, public safety, and 
scientific and professional work. 

Two lines of action are required to effect a thorough- 
going application of the merit principle to the positions 
of the executive branch of a government. 

Action must be taken (in the case of the national 
service by the President, and in the case of state and 
local services by legislative bodies) placing practically 
all of the positions of the executive branch of the gov- 
ernment in question, except those of a bona fide policy- 
determining character, in the so-called "classified" 
service and under the jurisdiction of the civil service 
commission. 

Action must be taken by civil service commissions 
that will insure that the positions placed under their 
jurisdiction are handled according to the letter and 
spirit of the merit principle. At the present time civil 
(service commissions frequently "exempt" a number of 
positions from examination requirements. This practice 
is sometimes justified by the difficulty of holding suitable 
examinations ; more frequently it lacks any justification. 
Civil service commissions should limit the number of 
"exempt" positions to the lowest figure possible. They 
should endeavor to devise suitable examinations for 
entrance and promotion to all positions in the classified 
service; and they should, wherever practicable, throw 
these examinations open to competition. 

i6 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

Establishment of Adequate and Uniform Compensation. 

The rates of pay offered in public employment at the 
present time are not, generally speaking, proper or 
satisfactory. This fact is reflected in the difficulty 
which administrative officers have in recruiting suitable 
workers for the public service, in retaining competent 
workers who have acquired valuable training through 
yearls of experience, in properly administering advance- 
ment and promotion, and generally in maintaining the 
morale and efficiency of the public service. 

The rates of compensation offered to public employees 
should be both uniform and adequate. "Equal pay for 
equal work" would seem to be an obvious principle of 
fair dealing and effective management. In the ordinary 
run of private business, this principle is put into practice, 
but not in public employment. In government service, 
what is substantially the same kind of work is frequently 
rewarded by different rates of pay within a single de- 
partment, and by different and widely varying rates 
of pay in the several departments. Thus, a "junior 
examiner" in the Interior Department is paid at the 
average rate of $1,490, while the compensation attached 
to essentially similar positions in the Treasury Depart- 
ment is at the average rate of $1,744. In state and city 
governments glaring inequalities of pay for similar 
work have existed, and, to a considerable extent, con- 
tinue to exist. Inequality of pay for )similar work has 
been a chief source of difficulty in public employment 
in this country. It has made impossible a business-like 
administration of the public service; and it has had a 
decidedly destructive effect on the morale and working 
efficiency of the public employees themselves. 

Rates of pay should be not only uniform, but also 
fair and adequate. Generally speaking, the pay of 

17 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

public employees at the preisent time is less than that 
offered for similar work in the field of private industry 
and business. The rates of pay for unskilled labor, and 
for the simpler kinds of clerical work, are perhaps as 
high as those which obtain for similar work in private 
employment. On the whole, however, the rates of pay 
in public employment are considerably lower than those 
which prevail for similar work in private employment, 
where a direct comparison is possible, and they are often 
strikingly inadequate in view of present economic con- 
ditions. This situation is due largely to the tendency 
of the rates of pay in public employment to remain 
stationary over long periods of time. In the 26 years 
from 1893 to 19 19, the average pay of national em- 
ployees in Washington increased by about 40 per cent. 
This increase is readily seen to be inadequate when it is 
compared with the increase in the retail price of food 
during the same period, e(Stimated at approximately 159 
per cent. 

The rates of pay offered public employees should 
be increased. Some individual employees may not 
deserve an increase. Some classes of employees may 
not deserve as large an increase as do other classes of 
employees. But there can be no doubt that in most 
systems of public employment the rates of compensa- 
tion should receive a general upward revision. 

Salaries in the classified service of our national, state, 
and city governments range from about $1,000 to about 
$5,000 a year, with very few at or near the latter figure. 
The range of salaries should be extended, by offering 
better rates of pay for work in the higher technical ind 
administrative positions, if the higher positions in the 
public service are to be made attractive to men of suit- \ 
able training and ability. 

18 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

A so-called "standardization" of public employment is 
concerned primarily with the task of establishing uni- 
form and equitable rates of compensation. To accom- 
plish this task it is necessary to analyze thoroughly the 
great variety of work done in a system of public employ- 
ment, and to group this work in fundamental classes, 
each one of which is made the subject of similar treat- 
ment in regard to pay and other conditions of employ- 
ment.* 

Establishment of a Retirement System. A system that 
provideis for the retirement of disabled and superannu- 
ated employees, with adequate benefits or pensions, is 
an essential part of any constructive program of public 
employment. 

Retirement systems are generally in force for the 
teaching personnel of local governments. They are 
frequently in force for the personnel of fire and police 
departments. A retirement law, applying to all national 
service employees, was passed by Congress in May, 
1920. MoiSt state and local governments, however, have 
failed to make adequate provision for the systematic 
retirement of employees. 

A system of retirement offers obvious advantages to 
I the employees concerned. To workers already in the 
! public service, the retirement benefit, indeed, represents 
. a kind of gratuity. To those who enter the service after 
the adoption of a retirement system, the benefit repre- 
5sents a part of the compensation attached to the posi- 
tions in question. 

An adequate system of retirement aids in both the 

recruiting and retention of a desirable type of employee, 

land it permits the systematic elimination of the aged or 

disabled without working undue hardship, and the 

*See Chapter IV. 

19 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

filling of the vacancies thus created by younger and 
more capable employees. It thus affords a means of 
increasing both the efficiency and morals of public 
employment. 

Multiplying Opportunities for Promotion. Next to more 
adequate basic compensation, perhaps the chief need 
of the public service is greater opportunity for advance- 
ment and promotion. Compared to private enterprise, 
the public service offers little opporttmity for advance- 
ment. To a certain extent this circumstance is inherent 
in the nature of public employment; but to a certain 
extent it can be modified. Systems of public employ- 
ment should be so organized and administered as to 
offer greater opportunities for advancement and promo- 
tion than they offer to-day. This must be done if 
capable workers are to be attracted and retained and a 
high degree of efficiency attained in public employment. 
A system of public employment should insure that an 
employee who is rendering efficient service may look for- 
ward with reasonable certainty to periodic salary in- 
creases. Such increases should be granted on the basis 
of length of service and the attainment of fair standards 
of efficiency, and they should be distinguished from 
promotions proper, or changes from a lower to a higher 
class of position. A plan which provides for such 
periodic (salary increases will tend to overcome the dead- 
ening effect of the stationary rates of pay generally in 
force in public employment. 

A system of public employment should also offer 
the largest possible field for promotion, in the sense of ' 
appointment to positions of higher rank, involving new 
duties as well as increased compensation. 

The merit principle has an important bearing on this 
problem. A thorough application of the merit principle 

20 



« 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

to all of the non-elective positions of the executive 
branch of a government would mean a con,siderable 
extension of the opportunity for promotion. It would 
mean that the more ambitious and capable members of 
the public service might reasonably aspire to many of 
the higher positions which are now "unclassified," or 
are treated by civil service commissions as "exempt" 
from examination requirements. 

Greater freedom of promotion from positions in one 
department to higher positions in another would also 
enlarge materially the opportunity for promotion in 
government employment. At the present time promo- 
tion from one department to another is usually restricted 
by artificial rules and regulations. Greater freedom 
of movement between departments is essential to an 
improvement of the system of promotion. Greater 
freedom of transfer from one department to another 
would also be of considerable value. A transfer is not 
a promotion; but it may be a means to individual self- 
development and to subsequent promotion. At the 
present time transfer from one department to another 
is frequently hedged about by artificial restrictions. 
Greater freedom in this matter would go far toward 
improving the opportunity for advancement. 

An adequate retirement system is also of considerable 
significance in this connection. Where no retirement 
system is in force, employees frequently remain in the 
service long after they have ceased to give an adequate 
return for the compensation which they receive. This 
situation implies waste and inefficiency; it also implies 
that opportunities for advancement are seriously re- 
stricted. An adequate scheme of retirement, with pro- 
vision for old age and disability benefits, enables a 
government to retire its employees systematically, and 

21 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

thus to open up to the younger and more capable mem- 
bers of the service greater opportunities for advance- 
ment and promotion. 

The training of employees for greater usefulness 
in the public service has a bearing on the problem of 
promotion. Private employers generally recognize the 
value of providing special training for their employees, 
but comparatively little has been done to provide facili- 
ties for training workers for greater usefulness in 
government employment. Such training facilities 
should be established. Profiting by the experience of 
private employers, governments should realize that op- 
portunitieis for promotion must be supplemented by 
suitable facilities for preparation for promotion, and 
that the encouragement of, and provision for, training 
for increased usefulness is one of the important means 
of enlarging the opportunity for advancement and 
promotion in public employment. It is also important 
that the vacancies that occur in the higher grades or 
classes of the public service be filled according to 
methods that are at once fair and effective. 

Generally speaking, promotions in the public service 
have not been made according to a strict conception of 
the letter and (spirit of the merit principle. Promotions 
and salary increases, particularly in the national service, 
have often been made in response to personal or political 
influence. In order to insure that the public service 
shall offer an opportunity for an honorable, useful, and 
satisfactory career, promotions as well as original ap- 
pointments should be administered in accordance with 
the merit principle. 

Extension of the Functions of the Civil Service Com- 
mission. In large part the improvement of public em- 
ployment must be brought about directly through the 

22 



I A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

government agency known as the civil (service commis- 
sion. In the past civil service commissions have per- 
formed a comparatively limited function. In the main 
they have done little more than attempt to administer 
recruitmg for government positions according to the 
requirements of the merit principle. 

In the field of private enterprise, the employment or 
personnel department has a broad function, which 
includes not only the recruiting of employees but also 
the supervision of their retention, training, and develop- 
ment, and in some cases the determination of the basic 
conditions of employment. In order to meet fully the 
problem presented by a modern system of public em- 
ployment, the civil service commission should exercise a 
similarly broad function. It should act as the central- 
ized "employment department" of the government in 
question and, within limits, should determine and carry 
out a broad and constructive program of public em- 
ployment. 

Civil service commissions have been hampered in 
their work by the lack of scientific classifications of 
positions and fair and uniform standards of compensa- 
tion. In state and local governments, civil service com- 
missions should be given the power to classify positions 
according to a business-like method and to recommend 
corresponding schedules of compensation. In the 
national government, the civil service commission as 
at present constituted, may not be the logical agency 
to undertake initially the whole of such a program. In 
this case a special agency may be needed. Generally 
speaking, however, civil service commissions should be 
empowered to introduce order in the basic structure of 
pubhc^ employment by classifying the positions under 
their jurisdiction according to a business-like principle 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

and by recommending to the appropriating bodies, fair 
and uniform salary standards. 

Moreover, civil service commissions should exercise 
a broad power of supervision over all the manifold 
phases of public employment. Their work should not 
stop with the recruiting of public employees. They 
should regulate the retention and promotion of em- 
ployees, and the maintenance of reasonable standards 
of efficiency in public employment. They should also 
supervise the training of public employees, and the 
maintenance of healthful and attractive working con- 
ditions. 

The duty indicated is not that of civil service com- 
missions alone. The responsible heads of government 
departments, whether chosen by election or appointment, 
must discharge a corresponding function of personal 
administration. They must recognize that "personnel" 
constitutes a problem separate and distinct from that 
of operation, and one worthy of the most serious atten- 
tion. In large government departments, personnel 
managers are needed to handle the special aspects of 
this problem, and should act in a measure as mediating 
links between the departments and the civil service 
commission. Moreover, in large departments, personnel 
committees should be formed, representing partly the 
administrative heads and partly the rank and file of 
subordinate employees. All of these agents and 
agencies — department heads, personnel managers, rep- 
resentative committees, and civil service commissions — 
must work together in a hearty spirit of cooperation if 
we are to see the formulation and execution of a pro- i 
gressive program of civil service employment. I 

The civil service commission, therefore, is only one 
of several instrumentalities through which the improve- 

24 



A PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

ment of public employment must be accomplished. It 
is, however, the central one of these instrumentalities, 
from which leadership in this matter must be expected 
to come. *«i;" ! 

Creation of Esteem for the Public Service. There re- 
mains an additional means of improving the public 
service which is not entirely under official control, the 
creation of greater popular esteem for the public 
servant and for the public service. It is a well known 
fact that the civil service, generally speaking, does not 
enjoy as high a degree of popular esteem in this country, 
as does the civil service of some of the countries of 
Europe, notably Great Britain and Germany. This 
may be due to the faults of the civil service, to an un- 
appreciative attitude on the part of the public, or to 
other factors of our history or national psychology. 
Whatever the explanation, it is unfortunately the fact. 

A new popular attitude is essential to any marked 
improvement of the civil service in this country. It 
must accompany the much needed reform in the rates 
of pay and other basic conditions of public employment. 
But it will have an additional effect. A genuine popular 
regard for the public service would create an "atmos- 
phere" in which the service might be expected to develop 
a new esprit de corps, and to become at once more 
efficient and more attractive to capable workei^s. 

Such a popular attitude toward the civil service will 
depend on a number of conditions. The service must 
be made exclusive, in the sense that only properly 
qualified persons are admitted to it, especially in the 
higher positions. The service, too, must offer reason- 
able rates of compensation, otherwise it will not long 
enjoy a high place in popular regard. Most important 
of all, perhaps, the civil service mU|St have a reputation 

25 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

for efficiency. In order to supply the last named con- 
dition, the civil service must attain a high degree of 
efficiency in fact as v^ell as in general reputation. The 
public service can reach a high degree of effectiveness 
only through definite improvements in governmental 
methods and machinery as well as in governmental 
personnel. To a certain extent, however, it can be made 
more effective through measures that will insure a better 
selection of government perisonnel and the stimulation 
of effort and productivity. Such increased effective- 
ness of the public service must be the basic element in 
the creation of greater popular esteem. 

But in order to establish a popular reputation for 
efficiency the public service must not only be efficient, 
but must be generally known to be efficient. At the 
present time, the achievements of the permanent per- 
sonnel of national, state, and city governments are 
insufficiently recognized. The average citizen has a 
very inadequate idea of the size and ramificationjs of the 
business carried on by our governments, and the high 
degree of effectiveness with which, on the whole, it is 
accomplished. The public service stands greatly in need 
of a campaign of advertising and popular education. It 
should be more generally presented to the public in the 
light, not only of its shortcomings, but also of its sub- 
stantial and indubitable accomplishments. 

A higher degree of popular regard for the public 
service, reflecting a more appreciative understanding of 
actual achievement on the part of the public at large, will 
have a most beneficial effect on public employment. It 
will lead to better basic terms and conditions of employ- 
ment and also to an environment in which public employ- 
ment may be expected to attain the maximum degree of 
effectiveness. 

26 



CHAPTER III 
THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

Legal Status of a Civil Service Commission. A civil ser- 
vice commission is an agency created for the purpose 
of enforcing civil service legislation. Such an agency 
may be created by legislative act or by constitutional 
or charter provision. The national Civil Service Com- 
mission was authorized in 1883 by act of Congress. 
The state commissions have usually been authorized by 
action of the state legislatures, though the Ohio and 
Colorado commissions were created by special provi- 
sion's in the state constitutions. Some of the municipal 
civil service commissions have been created directly by 
the civil service laws enacted by the respective state 
legislatures. Others have been created by special 
provision in city charters. Thus, civil service commis- 
sions exist in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, though there 
is no civil service commission in charge of public em- 
ployment in the State of Pennsylvania. 
Selection of a Civil Service Commission. A civil service 
commission commonly consists of three members. The 
selection of properly qualified persons for membership 
in the commission is a matter of crucial importance in 
determining the success of civil service administration. 
In practice civil service commissioners, with few excep- 
tions, are appointed by the executive head of the gov- 
ernment in question. National civil service commis- 
sioners are appointed by the President. State civil 
service commissionens are appointed by the governor, 

and municipal civil service commissioners are usually 

27 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

appointed by the mayor. They may also be removed 
by the executive head of the government. 

It is sometimes urged that civil service commission- 
ers be chosen on the basis of competitive examination. 
It has been argued that "civil service commissionerships 
should themselves be classified and should be filled only 
after competitive test, the candidates standing highest 
on the list to be certified and appointed. ... It is anom- 
alous and indefensible to allow the highest civil service 
office itself to be and remain a spoils position. ... A 
seat at the civil service board is not a political policy 
making position. It is, therefore, no part of the gov- 
ernor's or the mayor's administration." ^ This sug- 
gestion is of doubtful feasibility under existing con- 
ditions. It overlooks the difficulty of selecting officers 
of the qualifications required in civil service commis- 
sioners on the basis of examination as well as the fact" 
that the civil service commission must be responsible in 
a high degree to the executive authority which is re- 
sponsible for the resultjs achieved in the administration 
of the government in question. 

Civil service commissioners, however, should be 
chosen with regard to certain definite principles. They 
should be chosen with regard to both integrity and 
special ability. Civil service laws generally provide that 
not more than two of the three commissioners shall be 
"adherents of the same political party." Some laws 
provide that persons shall be chosen as civil service 
commissioners who are "known to favor the principle 
of merit and efficiency in the public service." The 
continued enlightenment of public opinion concerning 
the vital importance of keeping the civil service "out of 

^ Draft of a Standard Civil Service Law, National Assembly of 
Civil Service Commissions, 1916, p. 5. 

28 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

politics" and of administering it on a business-like basis 
is about the only practical means of insuring the en- 
forcement of this salutary provision. Moreover, men 
should be chosen as civil service commissioners who 
possess special qualifications and ability. Good inten- 
tions alone are not sufficient to insure an effective ad- 
ministration of public employment. The work of a civil 
service commission touches a great variety of matters, 
lying in the fields of law, business, industry, engineering, 
medicine, and especially in the newly developed field 
of employment management. A commission consisting 
of three members may well contain men of widely dif- 
ferent training and experience in the fields indicated. 
It should include, in any case, at least one member who 
is thoroughly acquainted with the point of view and 
methods of the rapidly developing profession of employ- 
ment or personnel administration. 

The term of office for which civil service commis- 
sioners are appointed varies from two to six years. The 
terms of the several members of a commission are fre- 
quently so defined as to overlap. In view of the duties 
involved, the legal term of office of a civil service com- 
missioner should be reasonably long. It may well be 
set at six years. A civil service commissioner, in order 
to discharge effectively the duties of his office, must have 
a knowledge of a number of technical matters peculiar 
to a system of public employment. He can usually 
acquire this knowledge only after long experience. As 
a matter of fact, civil service commissioners have fre- 
quently not remained in office long enough to acquire 
a knowledge of the conditions and needs of the service 
and to make their knowledge effective, and the circum- 
stance has been one of the chief hindrances to progress 
in civil service administration. 

29 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

It goes without saying that not only should the term 
of office be reasonably long, but the tenure of office 
reasonably secure. The most immediate means of in- 
suring permanency of tenure during efficient service, 
and, as a corollary, removal for incompetency, is develop- 
ment of a public opinion that appreciates the importance 
of a proper handling of public employment. 

The pay of members of civil service commissions is 
a matter of considerable practical importance. Hitherto, 
civil service commissioners have frequently received no 
pay at all, or pay entirely inadequate. While many men ' 
have in the past rendered valuable service — usually 
indeed only part-time service — for little or no pay, the 
time has come when civil service commissioners, should 
be given compensation proportionate to the importance 
of their duties. At the present time members of the 
United States Civil Service Commission receive a salary 
of $5,000. The report of the Congressional Joint Com- 
mission recommends that the salary be increased to 
$7,500. The civil service law recently passed in Mary- 
land provides that the commissioner (there being but 
one) shall receive a salary of $5,000. The question of 
adequate pay is closely connected with that of the 
amount of time which civil service commissioners give 
to their duties. In the smaller governments there is no 
occasion for full-time service on the part of members 
of the civil service commission, or at least on the part 
of all members of the commission, but in the state and 
larger city governments the members of the civil service 
commission may well be expected to give full-time ser- 
vice in handling the problems of public employment. 
Where full-time service is expected, civil service com- 
missioners should, as a general rule, receive pay equal 
to that of the head of a state or city department. 

30 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

Quasi-legislative Functions. The duties of a civil Ter^ 
vice commission fall into three main categories. They 
may be designated as quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial, 
and administrative or executive. 

The quasi-legislative function of a civil service 
commission includes the formulation of rules and regu- 
lations governing the various phases of public employ- 
ment. The law authorizing a civil service commission 
usually lays down the broad principles to be followed 
in working out an employment program ; but it does not 
provide a sufficiently definite basis for administrative 
action. Civil service commissions, therefore, are em- 
powered to determine the specific conditions which shall 
govern public employment. They accordingly prescribe 
specific rules governing examinations, appointments, 
records of individual efficiency, transfers, reinstate- 
ments, promotions, removals, and other phases of public 
employment. These rules have "the force and effect 
of law." 

The quasi-legislative activity of a civil service com- 
mission includes also the important function of "classi- 
fying" the positions under its jurisdiction. A civil 
service commission may "classify" positions in several 
different senses of that word. Since the earliest days 
of civil service legislation, commissions have been 
authorized to classify positions with regard to the 
practicability of filling them on the basis of examination. 
The civil service law usually states that "appointments 
and promotions shall be made according to merit and 
fitness, to be ascertained, as far as practicable, by ex- 
aminations which, as far as practicable, shall be com- 
petitive." The law imposes upon civil service commis- 
sions the task of determining which positions within 
the classified service may practicably be filled, first, on 

31 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

the basis of examination, and, second, on the basis of 
competitive examination. 

Civil service commissions have usually classified the 
positions under their control into four main groups. 
They have set up (i) an exempt class, (2) a non- 
competitive class, (3) a competitive class, and (4) a 
labor class. An exempt position, usually a position of 
considerable importance and carrying a comparatively 
high salary, is one which it is deemed impracticable to 
fill on the basis of examination. It is, therefore, placed 
voluntarily outside the control of the commission. An 
exempt position is filled and vacated at the pleasure of 
the appointing officer, without regard to civil service 
requirements. A non-competitive position is one which 
it is deemed impracticable to fill on the basis of an opep 
competitive examination, but which nevertheless is filler 
only after the appointee has passed a so-called qualify- 
ing examination. A competitive position is one which 
is filled on the basis of an open competitive examination. 
Labor positions, except in the case of skilled trades, are 
classed as falling outside examination requirements. 

There can be no doubt that civil service commissions 
have sometimes abused the power of classifying the 
positions under their jurisdiction. It was found in New 
York State in 19 16 that 

1,616 positions within the so-called classified service of the 
State administrative departments and other offices are filled 
without examination or other competitive civil service require- 
ments. They are termed "exempt positions." Many of these 
are positions of responsibility requiring such technique and 
training that the highest degree of efficiency is secured only 
where the incumbents have had appropriate training before 
appointment and are assured permanence of tenure after ap- 
pointment to the service. Appointment without competition 
does not necessarily prevent the selection of competent em- 

32 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

ployees. It has, in fact, in many instances, secured well quali- 
fied persons for the State service. But it does not insure the 
selection of competent employees and almost invariably leads 
to retirement before the best results are obtained. This is 
responsible for needlessly recurring waste in the management 
of the State's business.^ 

In order to forestall this condition, the civil service 
\2iW of Illinois does not grant to the commissions in that 
state the power to classify positions as exempt or as 
non-competitive. Mr. V\^illiam B. Moulton, President 
of the Illinois Civil Service Commission, has written 
as follows: 

Our laws make but few exemptions and these generally 
are limited to heads of principal departments. The commis- 
sions have no power to classify as exempt or non-competitive 
any position in the service. The Legislature did that once for 
all in the statute. . . . After six years as an administrator 
of this law, I have yet to find any reason based on the alleged 
confidential nature or on the impracticability of competition 
which should exempt a position. In administering the law we 
are absoluteily relieved of all the troubles of the New York 
Commission, for we cannot exempt a single position. 

This solution of the problem is, however, too drastic 
to be applied generally. Civil service commissions in 
some circumstances may properly exempt certain posi- 
tions, whether to meet exigencies of the service, to fill 
certain positions for which examinations are not readily 
devised and conducted, or to allow a reasonable degree 
of freedom to responsible administrative officers in the 
making of appointments. 

Some civil service commissions have been authorized 
to "classify" positions in a dififerent sense, according to 

2 Report of New York Senate Committee on Civil Service, 1916, 
p. xxiv. 

33 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

the duties and qualifications required in them, and to 
recommend corresponding salary standards. In some 
cases civil service commissions have carried on this work 
independently. In some of the larger jurisdictions they 
have undertaken it in cooperation with other official or 
unofficial agencies. As has been indicated, all civil 
service commissions should be given broad powers over 
the classification of positions, according to the duties 
and qualifications required. Only where they have such 
powers are they in a position to work out a constructive 
plan of public employment. 

Quasi- judicial Functions. Civil service commissions are 
required to exercise a number of functions of a quasi- 
judicial nature. They hear appeals from ratings given 
on examinations, whether for original entrance to the 
service or for promotion. As there is inevitably a cer- 
tain element of error in the rating of examinations, a 
review of ratings is sometimes necessary to insure 
justice to individual examinees. It also serves as a 
useful check on the work being done by the examining 
and rating staff of the commission. 

Some civil service commissions decide matters per- 
taining to suspension and dismissal. They hear and 
determine the merits of any charges brought against 
public employees on grounds of incompetence, insubordi- 
nation, or misconduct, whether those charges are 
initiated within or outside the civil service. Few civil 
service commissions, however, have the power of decid- 
ing cases of dismissal. In perhaps 80 per cent of the 
civil service jurisdictions throughout the country, ad- 
ministrative officers have the power to remove their 
subordinate employees, either absolutely or subject to 
certain restrictions. 

The appointing officer should have the power to re- 

34 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

move, suspend, or lay off his subordinates. If he does 
not have this power, it is difficult to see how he can 
enforce discipline and maintain a high standard of 
efficiency in the organization for which he is responsible. 
At the same time, an administrative officer in making 
removals should be subject to definite restrictions. Civil 
service laws commonly provide that he shall not remove 
public employees because of religious or political affilia- 
tions, but only for bona fide reasons of misconduct or 
incompetency. In order to make effective this provision, 
the administrative officer should be required to furnish 
the employee whom he wishes to remove, a written state- 
ment of the reasons for his action, and to give the em- 
ployee an opportunity to reply in writing. He should 
also be required to file with the civil service commission 
a copy of the reasons for his action and a copy of the 
reply of the employee. 

Experience shows that where the civil service system 
is once well established administrative officers do not 
ordinarily abuse the power of removal. The motive for 
making an unjust removal would be in most cases the de- 
sire to put in the place of the employee removed a person 
more acceptable on political or similar grounds. But an 
administrative officer has little incentive for making an 
unjust removal if entrance to the civil service is safe- 
guarded by a careful enforcement of the merit principle. 

Civil service commissions have the further duty of 
hearing and adjusting complaints made by public em- 
ployees. Hitherto, they have confined their work in this 
connection mainly to the hearing of complaints of a 
minor character concerning rules and regulations. In 
the future it is not improbable that they may be able to 
discharge a more important function in this connection. 
Judging by experience in the industrial world, it is not 

35 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

unlikely that civil service commissions v^ill be able to 
serve a useful purpose by facilitating a freer expression 
of the desires of public employees, and by mediating 
between the government and its employees in the adjust- 
ment of questions concerning terms and conditions of 
employment. 

Executive Functions. A civil service commission is 
charged primarily with the duty of selecting public 
employees on the basis of merit and fitness. In carrying 
out this duty, it must devise suitable examinations, study 
the sources from which candidates may be drawn, ad- 
vertise the examinations widely and conduct and rate 
the examinations. The selection of candidates for the 
civil service represents the largest part of the adminis- 
trative work of a civil service commission. 

After the candidates for a given class of position 
have been examined and rated, the commission prepares 
lists of eligibles. When an administrative officer sub- 
mits to the commission a requisition for a person to fill 
a position of the class in question, the commission certi- 
fies to him the names of those standing highest on the 
list of eligibles. The usual rule is that the names of 
the three persons standing highest on the eligible list 
shall be submitted to the administrative officer. Of the 
three persons certified, the administrative officer selects 
one for appointment. 

Civil service laws usually provide that no public 
employee shall work "out of grade," that is, in a position 
other than the one to which he has been appointed and 
for which he is receiving compensation. In order to 
secure the enforcement of this provision, civil service 
commissions are often required to audit the payrolls of 
the various government departments. Thus, the civil 
service commission exercises general supervision over 

36 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

the assignment of public employees. V\^here conditions 
permit, this supervision should be so exercised as to 
allow responsible administrative heads a reasonable 
degree of freedom in making minor changes in the as- 
signment of the personnel of their departments. 

Civil service laws frequently provide that the com- 
mission shall install and supervise systems to facilitate 
the rating and control of individual efficiency. In carry- 
ing out this supervision, commissions have worked out 
a variety of methods for recording individual efficiency, 
none of which has proved in practice entirely satisfac- 
tory. Commissions generally recognize the need of an 
objective measure of the value of the service of public 
employees, and may be expected in the future to meet 
this need by devising practical methods of rating and 
recording individual efficiency. 

Coordinate with the duty of selecting applicants for 
original entrance to the civil service is that of regulating 
promotions. Civil service laws commonly provide that 
the commission shall regulate promotions on the basis 
of fitness and merit, to be determined as far as prac- 
ticable by competitive examination. As a matter of 
fact, civil service commissions have generally allowed 
the control over promotions to remain very largely in 
the hands of administrative officers. In order to insure 
a much needed reform in this matter, civil service com- 
missions should exercise a larger control over the grant- 
ing of promotions. 

A function which civil service commissions have 
exercised to only a limited degree, but one which prop- 
erly belongs to them, is the supervision of the training 
of public employees for increased usefulness. Training 
of this kind is particularly desirable in view of the highly 
specialized character of many civil service employments. 

37 ' 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

The civil service commission should study the educa- 
tional needs of the various government departments, 
and should have general supervision over the activities 
carried on in the interest of vocational education. 

Among the administrative duties of the civil service 
commission is that of investigating and reporting on 
conditions which affect the welfare and morale of public 
employees. Civil service commissions have in the main 
neglected to exercise this function. In order to become 
really effective as agencies of employment control, civil 
service commissions should keep themselves currently 
informed concerning the conditions which obtain in 
public employment, and should, in so far as it lies within 
their province, take action looking to the maintenance 
of wholesome and attractive employment conditions. 
Organization of the Civil Service Commission. The 
successful exercise of the foregoing functions demands 
corresponding organization. In the case of larger gov- 
ernments, it demands a considerable degree of internal 
organization within the civil service commission and 
in the civil service department. 

In exercising its quasi-legislative function, that is, 
in enacting rules and regulations governing public em- 
ployment, in handling the question of exemption, and 
in determining questions of policy, a civil service com- 
mission usually acts collectively, as a deliberate body. 
In such matters a collective judgment is more reHable 
than the judgment of a single individual, and it tends, 
moreover, to inspire confidence in the integrity of the 
public employment system. 

In a similar way, in exercising its quasi-judicial 
function, that is, in the hearing of appeals or com- 
plaints, or in determining questions of discipline, a civil 
service commission usually acts collectively. 

38 



THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 

Experience has shown, however, that in carrying 
out its administrative duties, a civil service commission 
does best to delegate definite responsibility to a single 
member of the commission. Where a commission at- 
tempts to act as a board in handling administrative mat- 
ters, the result is almost certain to be a division of 
responsibility, and consequent indecision and inaction. 
A civil service commission should, therefore, make a 
single member responsible for all administrative func- 
tions, or specific members responsible for specifically 
defined administrative functions. In the case of gov- 
ernments of moderate size, a single member of the 
commission may well be made responsible for all matters 
of administration, such as the conduct of examinations, 
the preparation of eligible lists, the certification of 
eligibles, the supervision of efficiency ratings, the in- 
spection of working conditions, etc. 

In the larger governments, the civil service com- 
mission has a more or less extensive staff of assistants. 
There is a secretary of the commission, whose duties 
are those of general supervision over the administrative 
work of the civil service department. There is fre- 
quently a chief examiner, who supervises the prepara- 
tion, conduct, and rating of examinations. In some 
cases the same person holds both the office of secretary 
and that of chief examiner. In order to insure con- 
tinuity in the work of a civil service department, it is 
highly desirable that the secretary of the commission be 
a permanent official, chosen according to the ordinary 
rules for filling positions in the classified service, that is, 
on the basis of open competitive examination. In addi- 
tion to the secretary and the chief examiner, the civil 
service commission in the larger governments has a staif 
of examiners, who are especially qualified to prepare 

39 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

examinations pertaining to the various fields of public 
employment; a staff of investigators who make char- 
acter investigations and verify experience statements; 
and a force of clerks and stenographers who handle the 
correspondence, files, and other records of the com- 
mission. 



iOi 



CHAPTER IV 

STANDARDIZATION 01^ PUBUC 
EMPLOYMENT 

Purpose of Standardization. What has come to be 
known in a more or less technical sense as "standardiza- 
tion" is the necessary foundation of a business-like and 
equitable administration of public employment. With- 
out a standardization of the terms and conditions of em- 
ployment, the agencies charged with the control of civil 
service personnel have on their hands a problem im- 
possible of solution. Provided with a standardization 
of employment conditions, civil service commissions and 
administrative heads have a basis on which to perform 
effectively the duty of employment administration. 

The standardization movement, which began about 
fifteen years ago, represents the positive phase of civil 
service reform as contrasted with the older negative 
phase, which was concerned mainly with the imposition 
of checks and restrictions on administrative authority. 
It represents an effort to place in the hands of civil serv- 
ice commissions and of administrative officers positive 
means of dealing uniformly and effectively with em- 
ployment problems. 

The movement first led to concrete results in the 
government of the City of Chicago. An overhauling 
of the entire system of employment was undertaken in 
1909 by the Municipal Efficiency Commission. In 1905 
the civil service commission had distinctly recognized 
the need of a standardization. Its report of that year 
stated : 

41 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Experience has demonstrated that a change should be 
made, and, after long study of the question, it has been con- 
cluded that a new system of grading should be worked out on 
the lines of the particular duties performed. The task is not 
an easy one and will, require the best efforts of the Commis- 
sion, but in time a better system of grading will be devised. 
. . . There must come the establishment of a salary system 
which shall have a direct relation to the grade of work in 
which the employee is engaged. At the present time there is 
no system under which they are graded in the city service. 

The annual report for 1906 stated: 

Our method of grading, based upon compensation, has not 
been satisfactory and has caused us much concern, and thus 
far we have not been able to devise more satisfactory methods, 
based upon duties. Practically the chief trouble arises from 
the great inequality of salaries paid in the various departments 
of the city. i 

The report for 1907, reiterating the same view, \ 
declared : 1 

Most serious of the problems which embarrass the admin- 
istration of the civil service is the matter of grading. The 
records show that this difficulty has been recognized by pre- 
ceding commissions. Its solution can no longer be postponed. 
The Commission will undertake to re-classify, re-grade, and, 
in a measure, establish a standard for fixing uniform salaries. 

The conditions here pictured are typical of those 
which, in other governments, led to a realization of the 
need of standardization. Following the initiative of 
Chicago, New York City and Pittsburgh and Illinois 
and New York State authorized a standardization of 
employment conditions. The states of New Jersey, 
Ohio, and Wisconsin; Los Angeles County; and the 
cities of Philadelphia, Buffalo, Rochester, Milwaukee, 
Dayton, Minneapolis, Portland (Ore.), and Seattle have 
since authorized a standardization and carried it 

42 



njHH 



STANDARDIZATION 

through to a greater or lesser degree of completion. In 
1 9 19 Congress created a joint commission, which was 
empowered to recommend a ''reclassification of salaries" 
of national employees in Washington. The commission 
has made its report, "submitting a classification of posi- 
tions on the basis of duties and qualifications, and 
schedules of compensation for the respective classes." ^ 
A standardization of public employment is concerned 
in the first instance with the problem of compensation. 
It fixes, as nearly as this can be done, an equitable rate 
of pay for each class or grade of work, taking into con- 
sideration the nature of the duties and the qualifications 
required. It also establishes equal pay for equal work. 
It fixes a rate of compensation for each class of work, 
regardless of who performs it or the department of the 
public service in which it is performed. But a standard- 
ization goes beyond this, and touches other important 
phases of employment besides compensation. By 
classifying positions in terms of duties and qualifica- 
tions, it lays the foundation for an intelligent handling 
of the problem of exemption from competition. By 
ascribing a standard title to each grade of position, it 
secures the important practical result of a definite and 
uniform terminology. By specifying the duties and 
qualifications required in each grade of position, it 
provides a basis for devising effective entrance and 
promotion examinations, for the conduct of training 
courses, for indicating principal lines of promotion, for 
the setting of suitable standards of efficiency, and for the 
regulation of advancement and promotion. In short, a 
standardization, though designed primarily to adjust the 
problem of compensation, provides the basis that is 
needed for handling most of the practical details of 
public employment administration. 

43 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Experience on which to base a judgment of the re- 
sults of standardization is unfortunately limited. The 
state and municipal governments which have authorized 
a standardization of employment conditions have ap- 
plied, for the most part, the standardization only in a 
fragmentary way. The experience at hand, however, 
points to the conclusion that a scientific standardization 
of employment conditions accomplishes the purpose for 
which it is designed, and accordingly achieves results of 
the highest value to all the parties interested in public 
employment. 

Being based on the most extensive piece of work of 
the kind as yet attempted, the summary of the benefits 
of standardization contained in the report of the Con- 
gressional Joint Commission is of interest in this con- 
nection. The benefits of a standardization of public 
employment accrue, of course, to three principal parties, 
namely, the government as employer, the employees of 
the government, and the general public. With special 
reference to the circumstances of the federal service, the 
Commission summarizes the benefits of the proposed 
standardization, and of the proposed plan for its future 
administration, as follows : ^ 

The Congress will secure : 
A sound and practical working basis for arriving at the 
proper rates of compensation in appropriations for per- 
sonal services. 
The assurance that on this basis salaries and wages will 
be appropriate at the same rate for the same work in 
all departments and at all times. 
A means of controlling expenditures for personal services 
paid from lump-sum appropriations or contingent 
funds, and of bringing them into conformity with the 
basis observed in itemized appropriations. 
The assurance that on this basis the salaries appropriated 
^ Report of the Congressional Joint Commission, part I, p. 26. 

44 



STANDARDIZATION 

for positions of different classes wili have the equitable 
relationship that is called for by the difference in the 
values of the work involved in the respective classes. 

The further assurance that the salaries appropriated on 
this basis will be fair to the employee and to the public 
as the taxpayer. 

A method of adjusting salary scales from time to time, 
as required and justified by changes in economic con- 
ditions, in such a way as to permit of discriminating 
application of increases or decreases which will take 
into account the relative requirements of the several 
kinds of employment (as against the arbitrary spread- 
ing of bonuses, increases, or reductions over deserving 
and undeserving classes), and which will not affect the 
relative status of employees in the same class. 

Assistance in the consideration of estimates through the 
common use by all departments of a specific and uni- 
form terminology for classes of positions, i.e., kinds of 
personal service. 

A means, through this descriptive system of nomencla- 
ture, of comparing the organization requirements of 
different departments and of the same department at 
different periods. 

Relief from the pressure of special requests for changes 
in the salary appropriations for individual positions or 
employees or for special groups or departments. 

The Departments will secure: 

The immediate relief, so vital to the holding together of 
the experienced departmental organizations, that will 
come from the adoption of revised salary scales for 
specialized workers (particularly scientific and tech- 
nical employees). 

Permanent relief from the confusion resulting from the 
variations in salary scales for the same work in dif- 
ferent departments, with the consequent tendency 
toward interdepartmental competition. 

A means of expressing their exact organization needs to 
the appropriating body — the Congress — and the re- 
cruiting body — the Civil Service Commission. 

All of the direct and indirect benefits that will come from 
a fair and businesslike wage policy and a contented 
personnel. 

45 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

The Employees will secure : 

Immediate relief in cases where they are now inade- 
quately paid. 

Uniform justice in the relation between the compensation 
they receive and the value of their work. 

The assurance that all other employees of the Govern- 
ment engaged in the same work are being treated in 
the same way. 

The assurance that all adjustments of pay in the future 
will have reference to changes in living costs. 

The incentive to effort that comes from a knowledge of an 
assured reward for successful accomplishment — ad- 
vance in pay for increased usefulness in the same class 
of work and higher compensation upon promotion to a 
higher grade of work. 

The Public will secure : 

The assurance that its Government aims to be a model 
employer, and to pay each employee in proportion to 
the value of the work required of him. 

This, in the main, may be taken as an adequate state- 
ment of the benefits that would be derived from a proper 
standardization of employment conditions in the 
national service. Whether the plan is, in all respects, 
the most practicable one for securing these benefits need 
not be determined here. Some of the benefits set dov^n 
as accruing to Congress might be thought of as accruing 
in equal or even greater measure to the general public. 
In considering the benefits to the departments, the 
benefits to the civil service commission in terms of in- 
creased administrative facilities should not be over- 
looked. And the benefits secured to the public, in terms 
of efficient and businesslike service, would bulk more 
largely than appears in the foregoing summary. 

The results achieved through a standardization of 
the conditions of public employment fall under the two 
principal headings of economy and efficiency. Some of 

46 



STANDARDIZATION 

the state and municipal standardizations have effected 
a saving in payroll costs, while at the same time correct- 
ing many cases of underpayment of individual em- 
ployees. Whether a reduction in payroll costs can be 
effected depends on a multitude of fluctuating circum- 
stances. In addition to its bearing on economy of 
government, a standardization achieves a marked im- 
provement in efficiency. By prescribing equitable con- 
ditions of employment, and by laying the foundation for 
a uniform and business-like handling of employment 
problems, it introduces into the system of public employ- 
ment in various direct and indirect ways a higher order 
of morale and of individual and group efficiency. 
Adoption of Standardization. The adoption of a stand- 
ardization of the conditions of public employment lies 
with the legislative branch of the government. The 
formulation of a scheme of standardization covering 
the employment conditions of a large government is an 
undertaking that requires considerable experience and 
technical knowledge. Such schemes of standardization 
are usually formulated by a committee, appointed for 
this purpose by the legislative or the executive branch 
of the government, which avails itself of the services of 
outside experts experienced in government and employ- 
ment research. After a scheme of standardization has 
been formulated it is submitted to the legislative branch 
of the government for action. The standardization as 
submitted contains a classification of positions, with 
schedules of compensation, and rules providing for the 
future administration of the employment system on the 
basis of the standards proposed. 

The standardization, after it has been adopted, is 
applied by, or under the direction of, the civil service 
commission. 

47 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Principal Features of a Standardization Program. The 

first main element of a standardization program consists 
of the so-called classification of the various employments 
or positions. Such a classification distributes all the 
positions in the service according to a principle of funda- 
mental use in personnel administration. This may be 
called the scientific meaning. It should be carefully 
distinguished from several other senses in which the 
word is used in civil service nomenclature. As indi- 
cated, legislative bodies are said to "classify" employ- 
ments in the sense of grouping them as ''classified" and 
"unclassified." This is indeed an act of classification, 
though a very elementary one. The so-called "classified 
service," as it is created by legislative action of the type 
referred to, is far from being classified in any scientific 
sense, or in any sense of fundamental value in personnel 
administration. Furthermore, civil service commissions 
are said to classify the positions within their jurisdiction 
in the sense of grouping them as subject to examination 
or as exempt from examination. This again is a sense 
of the word "classification" different from the one in 
mind in the following paragraphs. 

A scientific classification, as a part of a standardiza- 
tion program, groups all the positions of a system of 
public employment on the basis of the work done and the 
qualifications required in the positions. When viewed 
from the standpoint of such a classification, a large 
system of employment breaks up into a number of 
divisions, each one of which contains further sub- 
divisions. For example, the national civil service, as 
analyzed by the Congressional Joint Commission, 
divides into three general groups, 44 services, and about 
1,700 classes of positions. The three general groups 
are designated as ( i ) services involving clerical, office 

48 



STANDARDIZATION 

or commercial work; (2) services involving the skilled 
trades, manual labor, public safety, or related work; and 
(3) services involving scientific, technical, professional, 
or subsidiary work. In this scheme the basic unit of 
the classification is the ''class." A class is defined as "a 
group of all positions which, regardless of their or- 
ganization connection, or location, call for the per- 
formance of substantially similar duties or work and 
involve the exercise of responsibilities of like im- 
portance and therefore demand substantially the same 
qualifications on the part of incumbents, and, for these 
reasons, are subject to common treatment in the selec- 
tion of qualified appointees and other employment 
processes, and that can be aptly described by the same 
title." ^ 

The report of the New York Senate Committee on 
Civil Service for 19 16 recommended a classification of 
the employments of the state that followed a somewhat 
different method of grouping. In this scheme the em- 
ployments are divided into 10 services, 157 groups, and 
about 300 grades. The 10 services are designated as 
the executive, managerial, clerical, professional and 
scientific, educational, investigational and examining, 
inspectional, institutional, skilled labor, and labor. The 
basic unit of the classification is here designated as the 
"grade of work." The number of grades of work is 
considerably less than that recognized in the proposed 
national classification, but of course the service of the 
State of New York is much less varied than that in the 
national government. 

In making a classification of public employments, 
the circumstance of chief importance is that the classi- 
fication shall be based on the work done and the qualifi- 

2 Ibid.j p. 73- 

49 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

cations required in the various employments. By fol- 
lowing this principle a great advance is made over the 
old method of grouping employments solely with refer- 
ence to the amount of compensation. 

The principle to be followed in determining the basic 
unit of the classification, and therefore the number of 
such units recognized, is indicated by the requirement 
that all the positions included within a single unit shall 
require substantially the same kind of work and the same 
degree of responsibility, substantially the same qualifica- 
tions in terms of training and experience, and deserve, 
on the basis of all the factors to be taken into considera- 
tion, substantially the same rate of compensation. In 
the interest of the practicability of the classification as 
a basis of employment administration, it is desirable that 
the number of unit grades of positions be restricted to 
the lowest figure possible. 

Each grade of position is assigned an appropriate 
standard title. In the work of the Congressional Joint 
Commission it was found that about 105 different titles 
are being used to designate what proved on examination 
to be a single class of position. On the other hand, the 
Commission found that one blanket title, that of "Clerk, j 
Class I," is used to designate what might be resolved 
into 97 varieties of positions.^ 

The uniformity of terminology brought about by a 
scientific classification is not the least important of the 
contributions which it makes to a business-like adminis- 
tration of employment. 

The second principal part of a standardization pro- 
gram consists of a series of specifications of the various 
grades of positions. In a measure the specifications re- 
sult directly from the classification. In order to make 

^ Ibid., p. 44. 

50 



STANDARDIZATION 

a classification it is necessary to agree tentatively at 
least on the specification of the duties and qualifications 
involved in each position. The specification of each 
grade of position as worked out in final form contains 
for the grade in question (i) a standard title, (2) a 
statement of duties, (3) a statement of qualifications, 
and (4) a range of compensation. The specifications 
may also contain an indication of the principal lines of 
promotion leading to and from the position. A series 
of such specifications covering all the positions of the 
employment system is the immediate working basis for 
progressive employment administration. 

The following examples are cited from the Report of 
the Congressional Joint Commission. They are speci- 
fications of two classes of positions, Senior Accountant, 
and Head Accountant. 

Title of Class : 

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT 

Specifications of Class 
Duties : 

Under general supervision, to audit cost accounting 
records in connection with contracts; to organize or improve 
cost systems subject to approval; to compile cost statistics; to 
investigate accounting methods; to supervise a small group 
engaged in similar work; and to perform related work as 
required. 

Qualifications : 

Training equivalent to that represented by graduation from 
high school ; not less than four years' experience as senior pub- 
lic accountant or in a responsible position in the accounting 
and cost department of a large industrial establishment ; thor- 
ough knowledge of the theory and practice of accounting; and 
good judgment. 

Principal Lines of Promotion 
From: Junior Accountant. 
To : Head Accountant. 

51 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Compensation for Class 
Annual : $2,400, $2,520, $2,640, $2,760, $2,880. 

Title of Class : 

HEAD ACCOUNTANT 

Specifications of Class 
Duties : 

Under general supervision, to direct large office or field 
accounting forces engaged in maintaining or verifying general 
or cost accounts or in investigating accounting methods; to 
direct the disposition of individual projects or groups of 
projects assigned to a subdivision for accounting supervision; 
to furnish expert and critical advice upon cost accounting 
policies, systems, and procedure; to submit analyses of 
methods of operation and details of cost bearing on quantity 
and time production ; and to perform related work as required. 

Qualifications : 

Training equivalent to that represented by graduation from 
high school; not less than seven years' practical experience as 
senior accountant in public accounting work, or in charge of 
general and cost accounting work for a large industrial estab- 
lishment; thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of 
accounting; administrative ability and sound judgment. 

Principal Lines of Promotion 
From : Senior Accountant. 
To : Assistant Chief Accountant. 

Compensation for Class 
Annual : $3,000, $3,240, $3,480, $3,720.* 

The specification of the grade of position entitled 
Senior Accountant contained in the report of the New 
York Senate Committee on Civil Service for 1916 is as 
follows : 

Title of Positions : 

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT 
AUDITOR 

* Ibid.j part II, p. 58. 

52 



STANDARDIZATION 
Definition : 

The duties of incumbents of these positions are to conduct 
independently, audits, examinations, and investigations of 
major importance, and to report thereon, to devise and install 
new methods of accounting procedure of complex nature, and 
to give critical and constructive accounting and auditing ad- 
vice of a high order. 
Examples : 

Qualifications : 

Supervising an examination of a public utility company. 
Persons holding these positions shall have: 

1. The minimum qualifications prescribed for Grade II. 

2. Not less than two years of service in Grade II, or if 
appointed otherwise than by promotion from Grade 
II, at least two years of experience in work of Grade 
II character and standard. 

3. Evidence of having fulfilled the requirements in audit- 
ing and accounting theory and practice, except that of 
experience, set by the Board of Regents of the Uni- 
versity of the State of New York, for a certificate to 
practice as a Certified Public Accountant, or proof of 
other training in accounting recognized by the State 
Civil Service Commission as the equivalent thereof. 

4. Such additional qualifications as may be required by 
the State Civil Service Commission. 

Compensation : 

The range of annual compensation of this Grade for full 
time service is from $2,340 to $3,540, inclusive, with stand- 
ard salary rates as follows: $2,340, $2,580, $2,820, $3,060, 
$3,300, $3,540. 
Special Regulation Governing Salary Rates : 

The entrance and other salary rates of positions classified 
within this Grade are conditional upon appraisal, under the 
rules of the State Civil Service Commission, indicating that 
the rates to be designated do not exceed the value of the work 
to be performed.^ 

The statement of duties affords a basis for adver- 
tising vacancies in the civil service, for planning en- 

^ Report of the New York Senate Committee, 1916, p. Tj, 

53 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

trance examinations, for the conduct of training 
courses, for setting and enforcing standards of effi- 
ciency, and for the regulation of advancement and pro- 
motion. It is the foundation for handling most of the 
details of employment administration. 

The statement of qualifications in point of education 
and experience required in each position is of use in the 
processes of recruiting, selection, and promotion. It 
can be made particularly valuable as a means of spread- 
ing information concerning the opportunities and con- 
ditions of promotion in the civil service. 

The range of compensation is the most important 
item in the specifications of each grade of position. A 
standardization is designed primarily to remedy irregu- 
larity and inadequacy of rates of compensation. 

Compensation in public employment has usually been 
devoid of system. There has never been an exact or 
logical basis for fixing salary rates or titles of positions. 
Standards of compensation for particular kinds of work 
as a basis for making salary appropriations are un- 
known. Positions are created without definition of work 
requirements. There is great difference in compensa- 
tion with respect to work of the same character or 
grade. Efficient service of a high grade in many in- 
stances receives but a low and inadequate rate of com- 
pensation, while service of a low grade in an equally 
large number of cases receives a large and excessive rate 
of compensation. In other words, compensation bears 
little reference to the service rendered. 

Appropriating bodies have generally not attempted 
to establish a close correlation between pay and work 
requirements. They have, instead, established artificial 
salary grades that bear no relation to the services 
rendered in the various positions. These artificial 

54 



STANDARDIZATION 

salary grades have seriously restricted both adminis- 
trative heads and civil service commissions, in the at- 
tempt to administer public employment on a business- 
like basis. A standardization of salary rates, with ex- 
plicit reference to the vt^ork performed in the various 
positions, removes, therefore, one of the principal handi- 
caps in the way of an efficient administration of public 
employment. 

The specification of the pay of each grade of position 
indicates a range of compensation. This range con- 
tains a minimum and a maximum rate, and usually one 
or more intermediate rates. The minimum rate is the 
one at which the incumbent should enter the grade of 
work in question. This plan allows for advancement 
within the grade on the basis of length of service and 
increased efficiency. It is based on a recognition of the 
fact "that in many cases an employee enters a position 
with relatively little experience, and that through appli- 
cation and experience over a considerable period of time 
his usefulness increases to its maximum value. Ad- 
vancement within this range of salary from the mini- 
mum to the maximum is held out as an incentive to 
efficient service." ^ Advances in salary within the grade 
should follow more or less automatically on the basis of 
attainment of reasonable standards of efficiency. They 
should be distinguished from promotions proper, which 
involve not only an increase in salary but a change from 
one grade of position to a higher grade with the as- 
sumption of new duties and responsibilities. 

A standardization aims to fix the range of compensa- 
tion for each grade of work at figures which shall be fair 
and adequate. The determination of a fair wage is, of 

^ New York City, Bureau of Standards, Standard Specifications 
for Personal Service, 1916, p. 17. 

55 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

course, a point on which it is impossible to reach com- 
plete agreement. Common sense indicates, however, 
that there are certain factors that should be given due 
consideration in determining a fair rate of compensation 
for public employees. These factors include the pre- 
vailing wage for similar work in private employment, 
the present cost of living, the qualifications required for 
the work in terms of education and experience, and the 
difficulty, unpleasantness, or dangers involved in the 
work in question. 

Certain of the peculiarities of public employment 
enter into a determination of a fair rate of compensa- 
tion. For example, the high degree of security of ten- 
ure generally offered in the public service may be con- 
sidered to justify a somewhat lower rate of remunera- 
tion than obtains in private employment. In some fields 
the opportunity to attain a position of prestige, or to 
pursue a career of scientific research, may also be con- 
sidered a part of the compensation. On the other hand 
some of the conditions of public employment may rightly 
be thought to require rates of compensation in excess of 
those prevailing in the open market. Some of the more 
highly specialized forms of public service have no exact 
counterpart in outside employment. Here the rate of 
pay prevailing in private employment offers very little 
guidance as to the value of the service rendered. More- 
over, the circumstance that public employment does not, 
and perhaps never will, offer an opportunity of advance- 
ment to positions carrying exceptionally high salaries, 
may be taken to justify the payment of rates in the lower 
grades somewhat in excess of those prevailing in private 
employment. 

Conditions in regard to the pay of employees of the 
national government have been summarized as follows : 

56 



STANDARDIZATION 

The salary and wage rates for positions involving like 
duties and responsibilities and calling for the same qualifica- 
tions — that is, for positions of the same class — show wide 
variations and marked inequalities. 

The salary and wage rates for positions in the same class 
are different in different departments and independent estab- 
lishments. The scale of pay in some departments is markedly 
higher than the scale for the same class of work in other de- 
partments. 

These inequalities in salary and wage scales as between de- 
partments are most striking when the rates of pay in the war- 
expanded establishments are contrasted with those in the or- 
ganizations that were not largely increased during the war. 

The bonus act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, 
tends in many cases to increase the inequality for positions 
in the same class. 

Rates of compensation in the government service as a 
whole have not increased as rapidly as has the cost of living 
according to official statistics. 

The amounts of recent increases in rates of pay in the 
government service have varied greatly (a) as between classes 
of employment, and (b) as between departments. 

The government has no standard to guide it in fixing the 
pay of its employees and no working plan for relating the 
salaries appropriate to the character and importance of the 
work for which such salaries are to be paid, and the designa- 
tions of positions now appearing in the Book of Estimates are 
inaccurate and misleading. 

There is a large number of unnecessary titles of positions 
contained in the Book of Estimates upon which appropriations 
are based, due to lack of definition of duties of positions. This 
is a factor in causing lack of uniformity in rates of pay. 

The lack of standardization in rates of pay may be largely 
accounted for by the unrestricted freedom allowed in the ad- 
ministration of lump-sum appropriations and the rigidity of 
the present system of statutory appropriations. 

The present method of fixing the salaries of employees 
upon their entrance into the service leads to inequality in the 
rates of pay for the same class of work at the very start. 

The absence of any uniform plan or system for regulating 
increases in pay of employees who have gained experience and 
usefulness in a given class of work, and the even more serious 
lack of any equitable system governing promotion from lower 

57 J 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

to higher classes of positions have been very large factors in 
causing the disproportion between pay and work. 

There is serious discontent, accompanied by an excessive 
turnover and loss, among the best trained and most efficient 
employees. The morale has been impaired. The national serv- 
ice has become unattractive to a desirable type of technical 
employee. The government has put itself in the position of 
wasting funds on the one hand, and doing serious injustice 
to individuals on the other, and of failing to get that degree 
of efficiency in administration that a more equitable and uni- 
form wage policy would bring about.''^ 

Plainly these conditions call for an upward revision 
in rates of compensation. The Commission estimated 
that the schedules of compensation recommended by it 
would entail an increase of approximately 8.5 per cent 
over the present pay, including the bonus.^ The in- 
crease in the case of some positions runs as high as 30 
or 40 per cent. 

Some of the state and municipal standardizations 
have effected a net reduction in payroll costs. Whether 
a reduction should be undertaken at the present time may 
be doubted. The justification of a standardization of 
public employment conditions must be looked for not so 
much in any direct saving in the cost of personal service 
as in the indirect saving effected through improvement 
in morale and efficiency. Economy often takes the form 
of better service for the same expenditure. 

In addition to fixing rates of pay that are intended 
to be fair and adequate, a standardization insures equal 
pay for equal work throughout the entire service. 
Under existing circumstances employees doing similar 
work in different departments, or even in the same de- 
partment, frequently receive substantially different 

^ Report of the Congressional Joint Commission, part I, pp. 31-60. 
^ Ibid., p. II. 

58 



STANDARDIZATION 

rates of compensation. By remedying this condition, a 
standardization accomplishes a fundamental improve- 
ment in the morale of the service and lays the founda- 
tion for handling the problems of personnel administra- 
tion in a business-like manner. 

A standardization of public employment conditions, 
in order to be complete, should embody a definite policy 
on the subject of retirement. Few American govern- 
ments have adopted an adequate retirement system. 
The need of a retirement system for public employees 
results in large part from the relatively high degree of 
security of tenure which prevails in public employment. 
This security of tenure is in itself a necessary feature of 
the public employment system. Restrictions surround- 
ing appointment and removal must be placed on adminis- 
trative officers. One consequence of this fact is that 
employees, once in the public service, tend to remain 
there after the period of their usefulness has elapsed. 
Administrative heads have little incentive for removing 
them. Moreover, humanitarian considerations often 
dictate that disabled or superannuated employees shall 
be carried on the payroll. They frequently are retained 
in the service as long as they are able to fulfill the mini- 
mum requirements of attendance. The government in 
this way more than pays the cost of a sound system of 
retirement by carrying a large element of "dead wood" 
on the payroll, and incidentally perpetuates a condition 
that is destructive of the morale and efficiency of the 
service. 

The objects to be accomplished by a system of retire- 
ment concern three parties, namely, the government as 
an employer, the employees of the government, and the 
general public. A system of retirement should conserve 
the interests of each of these principal parties. 

59 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Lewis Meriam, who has made a thorough study of 
this subject, writes as follows:® 

The objects which the government seeks to attain through 
the establishment of a retirement system may be briefly 
enumerated as follows: (i) the elimination from its active 
force of those who have lost their efficiency because of advanc- 
ing age or long service; (2) the elimination of those who 
have lost their efficiency in earlier life because of accident or 
disease; (3) the improvement of the morale of the remainder; 
(4) the retention in the service of the best of its present em- 
ployees ; many of whom in the absence of such a system resign 
to accept positions elsewhere; and (5) the attraction to the 
service of a higher grade of men. These objects, which are 
closely interrelated and may properly be included under the 
one head, the improvement of the personnel, require separate 
consideration. 

Concerning the interests of public employees in a 
system of retirement, Mr. Meriam further points out 
that 

two distinct classes must be distinguished at the outset: (i) 
those who are already in the service and (2) those who will 
enter after the system is in operation. The interests of the 
two classes are radically different. ... To the oldest of the 
present employees the establishment of a retirement system 
by the government appeals as an act of grace, a benevolent 
award of just deserts for long and faithful service. . . . To 
future entrants the system does not appeal as an act of grace; 
it is regarded as one of the inducements to enter the service 
and the prospective benefits are considered part of the com- 
pensation earned by services rendered.^^ 

The advantage that the general public derives from 
a sound system for the retirement of public employees 
consists primarily in the improvement effected in the 
morale and efficiency of the government service. There 

* Meriam, Principles Governing Retirement of Public Employees, 
1918, p. 3. 

" Ibid.j p. 17. 

60 



STANDARDIZATION 

is an additional advantage to the public in that a prop- 
erly conceived plan for the retirement of government em- 
ployees becomes a valuable system of social insurance. 

A standardization of the conditions of public em- 
ployment facilitates, in an important way, the work of 
the agency responsible for estimates of government ex- 
penditures. The budget-making agency must estimate 
the payroll needs of the various government depart- 
ments. Without a standardization of public employ- 
ment conditions, it has little to guide it in making up 
estimates of the cost of personal service. On the basis 
of standard schedules of compensation, that agency is 
enabled to approach intelligently the problem of esti- 
mates for personal service, and to formulate estimates 
that are fair both to the tax-paying public and to public 
employees. The work to be done in a given department 
having been determined, a sum estimated to be adequate 
to cover the payroll costs should be appropriated with- 
out restrictions as to the exact number of employees 
needed or the particular salaries to be paid to individual 
employees. The officer responsible for the administra- 
tion of the department should be allowed considerable 
latitude in determining the number and grade of posi- 
tions to be filled. 

A standardization of public employment usually re- 
veals the need and opportunity for the abolishment of 
unnecessary positions and the reorganization of govern- 
ment departments. The carrying out of a reorganization 
of departments, with the consequent abolishment of old 
positions and the creation of new ones, is not ordinarily 
conceived to be a part of the work of standardization 
proper. A standardization confines itself more or less 
closely to the establishment of uniform and equitable 
conditions within the existing system of employment. It 

6i 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

does not undertake to determine what work shall be done 
by the various departments or what organization and 
procedure are best suited to accomplish this work. A 
standardization does, however, develop valuable in- 
formation on these subjects, and this information should 
be made available to the agency that is best able to 
apply it. 

An agency authorized to study and control effi- 
ciency and economy should be a part of every govern- 
ment. The need of such an agency, whether permanent 
or temporary, in the case of the national government has 
recently received general recognition. It has been 
summed up in the statement of former Secretary Lane to 
the effect that "Washington is poorly organized for the 
task that belongs to it." What is true of Washington 
is doubtless true to a still greater extent of many state 
and municipal governments. An agency is needed in 
connection with every government which has the power 
to eliminate unnecessary positions, to devise and install 
efficient methods of procedure, and to reorganize and 
consolidate departments on the basis of the functions 
performed. 

Current Revision of Standards. Standards once adopted 
should not remain stationary. They should be re- 
vised from time to time in order to meet changes in 
the requirements of the service as well as changes in 
the circumstances surrounding public employment. 

The basic standards can be changed only by legis- 
lative action. An agency should be authorized, how- 
ever, to study the need of changes in the standards of 
employment, and to recommend such changes periodi- 
cally to the legislative branch of the government. The 
civil service commission would appear to be best quali- 
fied to perform this duty, at least so far as concerns 

62 



STANDARDIZATION 

most of the standards involved. Whether the civil 
service commission should be allowed to have final con- 
trol over recommendations of changes in the schedules 
of compensation may be questioned. In a large govern- 
ment, particularly in the national government, the re- 
vision of schedules of compensation presents a financial 
and political problem of great importance. The recom- 
mendation of new schedules of compensation in this 
case should be under the immediate control of the 
budget-making agency of the government. The rec- 
ommendation of changes in other employment stand- 
ards may well be placed under the supervision of the 
civil service commission. 

Apart from the need of the periodical revision of 
rates of compensation, there exists a need of current re- 
vision of titles, of definitions of duties and of the cor- 
responding standards of efficiency, of statements of 
qualifications required and of the conditions controlling 
promotion. The civil service commission should rec- 
ommend periodically such changes in these features of 
the standardization as are needed to keep the standard- 
ization up to date and to make it a useful instrument 
of administration. 

Enforcement of Standards. The mere enactment of a 
standardization of public employment conditions will 
not in itself accomplish results of practical importance. 
To achieve important results, the standardization must 
be conscientiously enforced. The civil service commis- 
sion has the duty of enforcing the employment 
standards. 

The original enforcement of new standards involves 
the allocation of existing positions to the proper grades 
within the classification, with a consequent adjustment 
of salaries according to the new schedules. In cases in 

63 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

which there has been a downward revision of the rate 
of pay, the transition from the old to the new basis of - 
employment should be made in such a manner as to ! 
work as little hardship on individual employees as pos- 
sible. In this case, it is sometimes advisable to make : 
the transition to the new schedule only as new em- 
ployees are recruited. Where there has been an in- 
crease in the rate of pay, present employees should be ; 
given the benefit of the increase immediately, as repre- 
sented by the appropriate rate within the grade of 
position oj:cupied. 

The current enforcement of a standardization in- 
volves all the manifold details of employment adminis- 
tration. It involves the recruiting and selection of 
employees on the basis of the standards adopted, the 
training of employees, the setting of suitable standards 
of efficiency, the supervision of advancement and pro- 
motion, the maintenance of discipline, and the en- 
couragement of a spirit of cooperation. As the agency j 
responsible for the enforcement of standards the civil 
service commission must maintain an attitude of super- 
vision and control toward both department heads and 
public employees. This control should be exercised in 
such a way as to make the standardization not so much 
a basis of restrictions as a basis of constructive effort 
and development. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION 
INQUIRY 

The fundamental principles underlying the classifi- 
cation of public employments and the gradation of 
salaries have been defined and its objects stated. The 
extent to which these principles have been ignored in 
the development of civil service regulations and practice 
has been pointed out. The adoption of a new classifi- 
cation, based upon the principles outlined, has been 
shown to be fundamental to any positive reform in em- 
ployment methods. The present chapter is concerned 
with the more important points to be observed in the 
conduct of a standardization inquiry. 
The Need for a Special Staff. Constructive reorgani- 
zation of the system of employment management can be 
achieved only through a thorough inquiry with special 
facilities for an intelligent handling of the subject. The 
employment problems of a large public enterprise are 
bound up with the intricacies of administration. Their 
solution involves investigation of a complex nature. In- 
formation of a varied character and voluminous detail 
must be collected and interpreted. Each distinctive 
employment or group of employments must be analyzed. 
Conditions of private employment must be ascertained. 
The costs of living must be determined. A system of 
examining and rating individual efficiency, control, and 
discipline must be considered. The legal status of the 
existing system must be determined, which requires 

65 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

familiarity with public law and public administration. 
A standardization, moreover, affects all classes of em- 
ployees. Its benefits both to the government and the 
employees must be carefully set forth so as to obtain 
the cooperation of the official and unofficial agencies. 

Methods of classification and distinct technical proc- 
esses have been developed in the standardization in- 
quiries that have already been conducted. Although 
little more than a beginning has been made, the plans 
and procedure for employment control are, in some 
respects, more advanced than generally obtain in pro- 
gressive practice. In starting any new inquiry, there- 
fore, provision should be made for profiting from the 
experience of the earlier work in this field, and this can 
generally be done best by retaining a special directing 
staff with some experience in this special field. 

The number and qualifications of the directing staff 
and the specially qualified assistants will depend upon 
the size of the government, the variety of its employ- 
ments, the extent to which employment conditions have 
factors that affect employment problems. Whatever 
the exact conditions, the first requisite is for an ex- 
perienced, well qualified directing staff. ^ 

^ Special staffs were organized in several American cities, notably 
in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Portland (Ore.), and 
Los Angeles ; in the states of New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New 
Jersey; and in the national government. The results of these in- 
vestigations are valuable from two aspects, the immediate and the sec- 
ondary. The immediate value lies in the results secured through the 
attempts of states and cities to apply these standards as a means of 
improving conditions. The secondary value lies in the scientific work 
extending over the last twelve years, representing a series of experi- 
ments undertaken for the purpose of formulating sound principles of 
classification and the establishing of standard rates of pay. 

The purpose and methods of a standardization inquiry are sum- 
marized in the report of the Congressional Joint Commission. Chap- 
ter VII of that report is, in effect, a manual of procedure of appli- 
cation to any government empldying a large personnel. 

66 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

Ex-ofiicio Staff Assistant and Leadership Inadequate. 

Investigations of large and representative governments, 
with ex-officio committees and part-time assistance have 
proved futile. The task is so large and complex that 
without competent leadership and specialized staff as- 
sistance on a full-time basis, too little emphasis is placed 
on the importance of the task and superficial treatment 
is the result. Finally, unless the inquiry is given in- 
dependent status and sanction, there is no assurance that 
the program will be adopted and its principles followed 
up. 

Legal Status of Standardization Agency. In some juris- 
dictions, notably the national government and New 
York State, the legislative body has directed the inquiry. 
In other jurisdictions, such as Chicago, it has been con- 
ducted under executive auspices. Theoretically, the lat- 
ter would seem to be the correct practice. Political con- 
siderations, however, might offset the theoretical ad- 
vantages of an executive inquiry. 

The enforcement of standards governing rates of 
pay and other conditions of employment is obviously a 
problem of current administration. It is an under- 
taking for which the executive branch of the govern- 
ment alone can be held accountable. No set of rules 
and regulations can be made binding on a political body. 
For the purely ministerial features of rule enforcement, 
a legislative body cannot be reached by mandamus. 
Furthermore, where discretion is involved in rule inter- 
pretation and enforcement — and the efficacy of employ- 
ment standards depends upon the exercise of discretion 
in their adjustment to varying conditions — a political 
body is influenced primarily by political considerations. 
The administration of rules should be in the hands of 
officers who can be reached by mandamus, or who can 

^7 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

be effectively and promptly disciplined or removed for 
failure to adhere to established practice and procedure. 
This is a cardinal principle of government. 

The development of standards must be predicated 
upon the information and experience that the executive 
and his subordinates, who are in constant touch with 
the detailed needs of the service, alone possess. 

Furthermore, the information and experience thus 
developed are important factors in the enforcement of 
the new regulations. They furnish background for 
their application. One of the primary purposes of a 
standardization inquiry is to furnish a basis for new 
provisions of administrative law. To this extent it is 
a legislative responsibility. But this responsibility of 
the legislature is not inconsistent with the responsibility 
of the executive under approved theories of manage- 
ment, to initiate proposals as to administrative needs. 
The committee system, with adequate facility for hear- 
ing, investigation, and discussion, enables the legislature 
to reach independent judgment as to the soundness of 
the executive's proposals. Members of the legislature 
should be invited to review the progress of the inquiry 
from time to time. Indeed, every facility for keeping in 
touch with the work should be furnished in order that 
they may be put in a position to judge and appraise the 
proposals made at the time they are presented in the 
form of suggested legislation. 

Cooperation of all Factors Essential. The first step in 
the development of any program which so vitally affects 
the living and working relations of a large and repre- 
sentative number of the community, is to develop an in- 
telligent public opinion as well as a basis for sympathetic 
cooperation with those to be so affected. Constructive 
publicity will furnish the most effective means at the 

68 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

outset for developing this opinion and cooperation. 
Statements released to the press and circulars dis- 
tributed among employees as well as interested citizens 
should outline the scope and objects of the inquiry, the 
general plan of investigation, and concretely specify the 
policy to be adhered to in the conduct of the inquiry, in- 
dicating the advantages to be gained. It should be made 
clear to both the public and the employees that the in- 
quiry will be conducted along broad and impersonal 
lines ; that it will be fair and thorough. 

Experience shows that there is danger that the whole 
movement will be misunderstood because of the use of 
the data collected for purposes other than standardiza- 
tion proper. This has caused civil servants in city and 
state governments^ to feel that greater protection is 
afforded by the organizations through which existing 
iniquities have been produced than by cooperation with 
those who are seeking to "standardize." This has 
arisen from a somewhat natural extension of the work 
of "standardization" to include certain tasks of "budget 
making" on the one hand and tasks of "administration" 
on the other. 

A standardization study is essentially a problem of 
coordinating and controlling examination and investiga- 
tion work. The study progresses in several distinct 
stages, and the prompt completion of one is essential to 
an intelligent consideration of the next. For example, 
complete information as to each employment must be 
developed according to standard form, and distributed 
and classified in various ways before the problem of pre- 
paring specifications for each line of employment can 

2 Fortunately the employees of the national government, generally, 
have expressed real sympathy with the standardization and classifi- 
cation work recently completed by the Joint Congressional Commis- 
sion. 

69 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

be approached. Likewise, prevailing rates of wages 
must be determined before a tentative gradation of 
salaries and wages can be set up on the basis of duties. 

The collection and interpretation of information, as 
a basis for new standards, is a task of great magnitude. 
The staff agency is not equipped to perform all the 
routine work independently. It is essential, too, that 
other points of view should be reflected on the problem. 
The staff agency should devote itself primarily to veri- 
fying and interpreting the data that are independently 
developed through other agencies. The facilities for 
cooperation in the collection of data include those af- 
forded by: 

The executive departments and offices. 

The civil service commissions as the board of 
employment control. 

Local citizen research agencies. 

Private employers. 

Other governments and research agencies. 

Special citizen advisory groups. 
Facilities Afforded by the Executive Departments. The 
officers and employees of the several departments under 
investigation represent the most important facilities for 
cooperation. They are in a position to describe and 
interpret accurately existing conditions. They are 
equipped to review and certify information on employ- 
ment conditions to the special staff. It is important, 
therefore, that the cooperation of these agencies be es- 
tablished in such a way as to charge each department 
with independent responsibility for assistance. A de- 
partmental representative should be designated who will 
work constantly with the standardizing agency. 

Departmental conferences of the formally desig- 
nated "representatives" and other officers should be 

70 



4ii 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

held. This brings the special staff into touch with those 
persons in the government upon whom will fall the re- 
sponsibility for furnishing a large amount of the in- 
formation. Conferences furnish a means for estab- 
lishing cooperation on a sound basis and define the 
working methods to be followed. The scope of these 
conferences might be outlined as follows: 

General discussion of problem and program with 
special emphasis on 

The need for inquiry. 

The benefits to accrue to the government and 
to the employees. 

The need for capable and continuous assist- 
ance from departments. 
Definite work methods in relation to 

Preparation of work records. 

Review and revision of work records. 

Field notes. 

Organization reports. 

Preparation of classification (a future step). 

Preparation of specifications (a future step). 
The official representatives become the spokesmen 
of the employees. They, themselves, are vitally con- 
cerned. The conference furnishes a forum of discus- 
sion that enables the standardization agency to discover 
the elements of antagonism and hostility to the program. 
It leads to criticisms, some of which will be found un- 
sound ; others, well founded ; and it enables the standard- 
ization agency to readjust the plan of inquiry to any new 
conditions presented. The most important benefit of 
these conferences is the assurance to the officers and 
employees that they will participate in the formulation 
of the new system of employment regulation. They 
furnish a means of oral instruction to the departmental 

71 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

representatives as a group. This is desirable, for it 
raises numerous questions as to the details of the pro- 
cedure which, in the aggregate, become important to 
the final result. 

Facilities Afforded by Civil Service Commission. The 
basic features of classification, as pointed out in Chapter 
IV include the following: 

Standard duties. 

Standard grades and rates of pay. 

Standard titles. 

Standard qualifications as a basis for admis- 
sion to the service. 

Standard qualifications as a basis for promo- 
tion. 

Standard regulations governing salary in- 
creases. 

The development of these standards must be predi- 
cated upon the experience of the civil service commis- 
sion in recruiting, advancing, and promoting employees 
under various conditions. Its opinion shguld be re- 
flected upon all important questions. Cooperation 
with the civil service commission is necessary in order 
to insure that the grades and rates of compensation and 
the rules and regulations for their enforcement will be 
adapted to scientific recruiting and employment 
methods. The rate of salary or wage determines, to a 
large extent, the type of person who can be recruited. 
Particularly is this true of the public service, where a 
somewhat artificial examination is the basis for a com- 
petitive appointment. Control over the conditions for 
salary increase — a matter of fiscal or legislative control 
■ — must be coordinated with the administrative arrange- 
ment, for designating who shall be increased. The civil 

72 



i\ 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

service commission, in effect, conducted the standardiza- 
tion inquiry for Chicago. Its responsibility as the em- 
ployment board of control explains the thoroughness 
and dispatch with which the inquiry was conducted. It 
explains, too, the accuracy of its conclusions, and, de- 
spite the limitations in the matter of classification, the 
direct and tangible results that accrued. 
Facilities Afforded by Local Citizen Research Agencies. 

Almost every large community has research bureaus or 
other civic agencies that are equipped to assist the local 
government on problems of personal and civil service. 
A bureau of municipal research is organized for techni- 
cal assistance and can greatly assist in the collection, 
classification, and interpretation of data as to employ- 
ment conditions. Such an agency represents an inde- 
pendent and impersonal viewpoint, and sometimes gives 
assurance to the community that the investigations are 
free from political influences. Agencies, such as 
chambers of commerce, that are not equipped to render 
technical service in this field, are valuable for propa- 
ganda and publicity purposes. An attempt to secure 
the adoption of new standards necessarily arouses the 
opposition of reactionaries, and too often fails to secure 
the approval of the progressives. This means that a 
campaign has to be carried on in the community for the 
purpose of developing public opinion sufficiently strong 
to secure the ratification of the program. 

Civic agencies, particularly bureaus of municipal re- 
search, have assisted in the standardization and civil 
service studies of New York City, Pittsburgh, Mil- 
waukee, Rochester, and New York State. Indeed, these 
inquiries have been undertaken largely through their 
initiative. Continuous cooperation with the official 
agencies has continued throughout the investigations. 

73 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 
Facilities Afforded by Private Employers. It is recog- 
nized that certain private enterprises have introduced 
up-to-date methods of employment control. Local 
private practice necessarily establishes the prevailing 
rates of pay for most lines of work. The facilities for 
determining the prevailing rates of pay should be sought. 
The contemporary opinion of representative employers 
should be reflected on problems of appointment, pro- 
motion, and retirement. 

Facilities of Other Govemments and Outside Research 
Agencies. The state, county, and city governments 
that have made special studies of this problem have de- 
veloped scientific materials of large value. The co- 
operation of these governments and the various citizen 
agencies that have worked in conjunction with them, 
should be sought for the purpose of utilizing the results 
and materials of their investigations. 
Special Citizen Advisory Groups. Specialists in vari- 
ous occupations, such as engineering, law, medicine, 
social investigation, and accounting, are equipped to 
furnish technical assistance and advice on subjects of 
qualifications, experience, rates of pay, and other ques- 
tions of employment control. The methods of inquiry 
should contemplate full opportunity for specialists, in- 
dividually or in groups, to assist the government. 
These facilities should also be availed of in interpreting 
the program to the community. 

All the foregoing factors of cooperation were recog- 
nized in the New York State, the New York City, and, 
more recently, the national government inquiries. 
Collection of Data as to Existing Employment Conditions. 
The first step in the investigative program is to learn 
what each employee is actually doing. The primary 
requisite is a description of the duties actually per- 

74 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

formed by each employee, so presented as to bring out 
clearly the difficulty of the work, the degree of responsi- 
bility it involves, the extent to which it is supervised or 
demands the supervision of others, and the training and 
experience necessary for its successful prosecution. 
This information is indispensable. Supplementary data 
are usually collected regarding the age of the employee 
and his service history or record. The extent to which 
the service history of the employee is inquired into will 
depend in part on the size of the government being 
studied. In small governments the physical difficulties 
of reviewing and utilizing details are comparatively 
slight, but in large governments, where the number of 
positions runs high into the thousands, the work in- 
volved in reviewing and utilizing a mass of details is so 
considerable that only absolutely essential questions 
should be asked. Information regarding the depart- 
mental location of the position, its civil service status, 
salary, and perquisites are, of course, always secured.^ 
To facilitate the collection of this information, a 
standard form or questionnaire should be used, which, 
under ordinary circumstances, will be initially filled out 
by the employee himself. If the employee prepares the 
record, the department is relieved of a large amount of 
work. Most of the information desired can be fur- 
nished by him in the first instance without assistance, 
and he alone possesses some of it. Employees long in 
the service may be unable to give complete civil service 
records without reference to the civil service commission 
or the department's personnel records, but arrangements 

^ The scope of the information asked in reference to the civil serv- 
ice and work record of each employee in the New York State inquiry 
is shown by the questionnaire used in it. This form, which was 
similar to that used in the New York City inquiry, is reproduced on 
pp. 76-77. 

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77 



, PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

can be made whereby they may consult these records or 
be supplied with the necessary facts. 

The details of the procedure that is to be followed in 
getting the questionnaires properly distributed will de- 
pend in part upon the conditions existing in the particu- 
lar government being investigated. A procedure such 
as was followed in the New York State inquiry may be 
summarized as follows : 

The responsibility for the distribution, filHng out, and 
verification of the civil service and work record cards so that 
they may be ready for certification to the standardization 
bureau within two weeks after their receipt is placed upon the 
several departments. 

A blank civil service and work card with a circular of in- 
struction issued by the standardization agency is given to each 
employee. Instructions should be clear and specific as to the 
character of the several answers desired. 

The employee prepares a tentative or rough draft of 
answers. 

The tentative draft is referred by the employee to his im- 
mediate superior, who reviews same. The immediate superior 
is charged with the same responsibility as the employee him- 
self for the accuracy and completeness of the answers filled in. 

The immediate superior makes the necessary corrections 
in the rough draft. These corrections as far as possible should 
be made only after discussion with the employee, inasmuch as 
the record in its final form will be verified by the employee as 
his statement. 

The tentative draft of answers as reviewed by the imme- 
diate superior should be referred to the bureau head or other 
officer acting in this capacity for final review. The bureau 
head or other officer acting in this capacity then fills out the 
questions of the work record which relate respectively to in- 
consistencies of title, salary rate, etc., and to special training 
and experience required. 

The cards are then reviewed by the staff examiner acting in 
conjunction with the departmental representative. 

In the national inquiry both the employee and his 
immediate superior prepared the so-called duties state- 

78 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

ment, so that each was given the opportunity to express 
himself just as he pleased, though each knew that what- 
ever he said would be read by the other. This proced- 
ure has the distinct merit that it brings issues of fact 
between the immediate superior and the employee to the 
attention of the investigating agency, and it gives the 
employees the feeling that they have an independent 
standing in the work. 

The preparation of the description of the work pre- 
sents the real difficulties. The employee's statement 
should be complete. He should enumerate the several 
classes of work he performs, and under each class de- 
scribe the duties in detail. For example, a clerk in the 
application division of the civil service commission 
might describe his work in these terms : "1 receive re- 
quests for applications, by mail and by personal visits; 
such requests average 350 each day. I give information 
to the public in reference to how such applications 
should be filled out. I receive applications when filled 
out, briefly reviewing the same for the purpose of calling 
attention to omissions or irregularities therein. I 
record said applications in a daily register which con- 
sists of the name and number. The average number of 
applications received and so recorded is 325." 

The work record should show the extent to which 
the employee supervises the work done by others. 
Supervision may involve the direction of several 
bureaus, it may relate to the direction of several divi- 
sions or to sections within a division, or to one or more 
assistants who do not constitute a recognized organiza- 
tion unit. Systematic provision should be made for 
recording the exact facts regarding the number of em- 
ployees or the organization units supervised, the degree 
of supervision exercised, and the time given to it. 

79 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 
The following form was used in the national inquiry : 

CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMMISSION ON RECLASSIFICA- 
TION OF SALARIES 

CLASSIFICATION QUESTIONNAIRE 

GENERAL STATEMENT. — The Congressional Joint Commission on Reclassifi- 
cation of Salaries is charged with the duty of reporting what "readjustment of com- 
pensation should be made so as to provide uniform and equitable pay for the same 
character of employment throughout the District of Columbia * * *." To assist the 
Commission in ascertaining the "character of employment" in each position in the 
senrice it requests that each employee furnish specified information (questions i to 
22) regarding his own position. The immediate superior of each employee is also 
requested to furnish certain information (questions 23 to 2j). READ ALL QUES- 
TIONS THROUGH BEFORE WRITING ANYTHING. Then fill in the answers 
carefully, and finally reread all questions and answers. Entries must be made in ink 
or typewriting. This card goes first to the employee, then to his immediate superior, 
who will return it to the employee for final delivery to the Commission's represen- 
tatives. 

Name 

Organization Unit 

Pay-roll Title 

Basic Salary 

No 

QUESTIONS BELOW TO BE ANSWERED BY EMPLOYEE 

(Read all questions through before writing anything.) 

Position 

I. By what occupation, name, or title, is your position usually referred to? 



Place of Work 

2. Where is your office or place of work? (o) ; Building 

(b) St. or Ave. (c) Telephone No Branch 

3. Who is your immediate superior ? His title ? 

Duties 

4. What work do you actually perform in your position? (Answer this question 

fully in the space provided on the other side of this card.) 

5. Do you hold any other Government position? If so, give title and place 

of work 

Compensation 

{per month, 
per day. 
per hour. 
(&) $ per yr. (c) Bonus? $ 

7. Are you paid for overtime work? If so, at what rate? $ per 

(Yes or No.) 

8. Do you receive any remuneration or allowances in addition to your salary, such 

as board, lodging, etc. ? 

(Yes or No.) 

9. If so, state fully what they are 



10. What supplies, uniform, or equipment, if any, are you required to furnish at 
your own expense ? 



80 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

Hours of Work 

11. What are your regular working hours? (a) Hour of beginning 

(&) Hour of ending.... (c) Minutes for lunch? 

(d) Net hours per week? (e) Leave per year: (i) An- 
nual days; (2) Sick days. 

12. Do you work overtime? (a) If so, how often and during what 

months? (&) How many hours per day 

on the average on overtime days ? 

13. Do you work full time or part time in this position? 

Supervisory Responsibility 

14. Are you responsible for the direction or supervision of the work of others? 

(Yes or No.) 

15. If so, how many? 16. What is the aggregate of their annual 

salaries? $ 

17. List below the titles or occupations of the employees under your supervision and 
indicate the number of each kind. 



Personal Data 

18. What is your age? yrs mos. 19. How long have 

you been in your present position doing substantially the same work as that 
described in your answer to question 4? yrs mos. 

Since 

(Year.) 

["per month. 

20. At what salary did you start in your present position ? $ < per day. 

Lper hour. 

21. How long altogether have you been in the civilian employ of the United States 

Government or of the municipality of the District of Columbia? yrs. 

mos. 

Since 22. At what salary did you first enter the 

(Year.) 

fper month, 
service ? ■< per day. 

Lper hour. 

Note 

Before signing this certificate, read over all of the questions and your answers and 
make sure that you have given the information called for in each case. After your 
immediate superior has made his notations on your card, and it has been examined by 
the Bureau or Division Chief, it will be returned to you for your final signature and 
for delivery to the Commission's representatives. 

Certificate 

I hereby certify that my answers to all of the questions in this Questionnaire are 
in all respects correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. 

fMr. 
Date , 1919. Signed :-{ Mrs 

LMiss 

(Sign Full Name.) 

QUESTIONS BELOW TO BE ANSWERED BY IMMEDIATE 
SUPERIOR 

(Read all questions through before writing anything.) 

23, What is the work actually performed by the employee to whom this Questionnaire 
is addressed? (Please answer this question fully in the place provided in the 
lower part of the other side of this card.) 

81 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

24. In your opinion is there any material difference of fact between the statement 

in your answer to question 23 and that given by the employee in answer to 

question 4? .• 

(Yes or No.) 

25. If so, in what essential respects do they differ ? 

26. What qualifications do you think applicants who seek to be appointed to this 

position should possess ? 

(a) As to education ? 

(&) As to length and kind of practical experience? 

(c) As to personal characferistics? 

27. Have you read all the answers made by the employee to whom this Questionnaire 

is addressed? 

(Yes or No.) 

Signed: •' 

Title: 

Name of Office or Section 

EXAMINED BY: 

Date , I9I9. 

(Bureau or Division Chief.) 



STATEMENT OF DUTIES AND OF WORK 
PERFORMED 



To THE Employee 

(See question 4 on other side.) 

Describe your work by listing the various tasks you perform. List your regular 
duties first and your special or occasional duties last. Explain each task in a sepa- 
rate paragraph and make your description as detailed as space will permit. Number 
each paragraph and in the columns to the left show the hours per day or days per 
month or the percentage of your total time that you estimate you give to each duty in 
the normal course of your work. Not only the successful progress of the work of 
this Commission but the proper classification of your own position depends largely on 
the completeness and correctness of your description of your work. After you have 
completed your statement, draw an oblique line through the remaining space. If you 
need more space, attach a separate sheet. 



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82 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

To THE Immediate Superior 

(See question 23 on other side.) 

Give a careful and complete statement of the duties of the position to which this 
card applies. Describe specifically the work actually performed by the employee. 
Tabulate in separate paragraphs the items that go to make up the work. Indicate in 
each case what percentage of the total time of the incumbent is given to each task 
in the ordinary course of his work. After you have completed your statement, draw 
an oblique line through the remaining space; and return this card to the employee. 
Ask him to return the card to the Commission's representatives. 



To THE Employee 
(NOTE :^— When this card has been returned to you by your imme- 
diate superior, fill out the questions below and deliver the card to the 
Commission's representatives.) 

28. In your opinion, is there any material difference o£ fact between 
the statements of your duties given in answer to questions 4 and 23? 

29. If so, in what essential respects do they differ? 

(Yes or No.) 



Signed : 

(Employee.) 



Independent Verification of Records by Staff Examiners. 

During the preparation of tiie work records it will be 
desirable for the staif examiner, in conjunction with the 
departmental representative, to confer with supervisory- 
employees as to the progress of the work. He should 
make first-hand observations for the purpose of de- 
termining the reliability of the information being fur- 
nished. To do this he should review in a preliminary 
way a representative number of cards during the course 
of preparation. He should then discuss these cards with 
the respective employees and, on the basis of this investi- 
gation, report to the departmental representative and the 

83 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

responsible officer his observations as to the accuracy 
and completeness of the information being prepared. 

The preparation of civil service and v^ork records 
gives the staff examiner good opportunity to familiarize 
himself v^ith employment conditions in the department. 
Many questions arise as to the manner in v^hich the 
answers should be made. The examiner is better 
equipped to furnish this information than the depart- 
mental representative. In furnishing it he familiarizes 
himself with the position involved. 

Continuous contact with employment conditions 
over a rather short period enables an accustomed and 
trained examiner to interpret employment conditions 
accurately and to classify the employees of any large 
department. The preparation of field notes recording 
from day to day the observations of the staff examiner 
promotes accurate thinking and analysis. An examiner 
can retain in his memory but a limited number of the 
impressions and observations that he makes from day to 
day. If they are currently recorded, however, a body of 
information is developed that soon becomes complete and 
is easily interpreted. The procedure for the preparation 
of field notes should be defined and made mandatory.* 

*The examiners of the New York Senate Committee on Civil 
Service were required to prepare field notes as outlined above, and 
on the basis of such notes summary observations as to irregularities. 
The irregularities were grouped under appropriate captions such as 
the following: 

Irregularity of title. 

Irregularity of compensation. 

Defective classification of positions (particular reference to ex- 
emptions). 

Conditions that made for duplication of work and waste. 

Departmental practice with respect to vacation and sick leave. 

Departmental practice with respect to maintenance and other per- 
quisites. 

Departmental practice with reference to traveling expenses. 

Unnecessary work (that is, fields of activity undertaken by depart- 
ment). 

84 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

Summary Observations as to Irregularities. On the 

basis of the field notes the examiners should prepare 
summary observations as to irregularities that appear 
in the preliminary examinations. These should be re- 
corded as tentative or interim comments to be used as a 
basis for future reference and review. They are in- 
tended merely as an elaboration of the original notes 
themselves. 

The current preparation of field notes facilitates the 
preparation of reports on organization and procedure 
that should be undertaken as a somewhat distinct, 
though related, study, in order to secure better perspec- 
tive for the interpretation of employment conditions. 
Use of Studies of Organization. Working charts or out- 
lines of organization should be prepared for each 
major unit of organization. These are valuable in pre- 
senting a picture of the organization and of the distribu- 
tion of employees in relation to functions, lines of 
authority, and specific classes of work. They assist in 
interpreting employment conditions and detecting ir- 
regularities.^ 

The chart or outline should indicate the formal units 
of organization or other reasonably distinct groups into 
which the personnel is distributed.^ It should also show 
in so far as possible the interrelation of the subordinate 
units, thus revealing existing lines of authority and 

^ They may prove of value too in calling the attention of depart- 
ment heads and other officers to questions regarding the structure or 
the procedure of the bureaus or offices for which they are respon- 
sible, as greater exactness and precision of understanding is required 
in making an organization chart than in ordinary routine supervision. 
In the Chicago, New York State, New York City, and other in- 
quiries, these charts were the specific means of bringing to light im- 
proper divisions of personnel and other administrative defects. Con- 
scientious officers were thus directly stimulated to improve their or- 
ganization. 

^ See statement in relation to procedure in Report of Congressional 
Joint Commission, p. 167. 

85 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

responsibility. For each subordinate unit should be 
shown the number of employees distributed according 
to distinctive titles. In charting, a square or rectangle 
may be used to indicate each major organization unit. 
Each square or rectangle may well be divided into three 
parts, the first containing the name of the unit or a 
characterization of the activity (such as general ad- 
ministration), the second, a detailed specification of the 
functions of the unit, and the third, an itemization of 
the personnel. It may be desirable to differentiate be- 
tween the major and the subordinate organization units, 
presenting the information for the former in somewhat 
different form.'^ 

The coordinate or subordinate relation of any 
particular unit is usually indicated in the working chart 
by the relative position of the blocks and by the direction 
of the connecting lines. 

An intensive study of each individual position of 
distinctive group of positions necessarily includes ques- 
tions of organization. The scope and importance of a 
position is dependent upon its relation to the group. In- 
deed, it is believed that classification and appraisal of 
positions must be based in part upon studies of the or- 
ganization as a group activity to which the individual 
positions are attached.^ 

' The organization charts for the government of the City of New 
York (which were designed for permanent use rather than as working 
charts in an investigation) presented for the major units the following 
information : the name or function of the organization ; summary 
statement of the personnel, with total salary cost and the title of 
the person in charge with his salary; and a brief statement of the 
functions or activities of the organization unit. This plan was ad- 
hered to also for the subordinate units as far as their formal organiza- 
tion would permit. 

^ The New York Senate Committee on Civil Service was directed 
as a part of its standardization inquiry, to report "what, if any, 
positions should be abolished or changed in the interest of the public 
welfare." It considered itself directly authorized under the terms of 

86 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

For each of the major units or services of the gov- 
ernment a descriptive monograph is desirable presenting 
a detailed account of its history, organization, and work 
methods. The comprehensiveness of such reports 
would depend upon the limits of time and the technical 
assistance available for the study and the extent to 
which the materials developed are to be used for the 
analysis of methods of administration. Such descrip- 
tive reports, to be of value in reference to the technical 
problems of personal management, must be technical in 

this resolution to inquire not only into employment conditions but also 
into the machinery of government and the administrative procedure. 

The preparation of reports on organization and methods of ad- 
ministration was undertaken as a separate but integral part of the 
standardization program in order to meet this requirement. For each 
department a detailed descriptive report was prepared, showing ex- 
isting functions, distribution of personnel, organization, and work 
methods. On the basis of such descriptive reports, verified by the 
department, criticisms and recommendations were formulated by the 
committee's staff for each of the departments, indicating wherein 
the existing organization, methods, or procedure could be changed 
with resulting economy or increased efficiency. 

These reports were found to be of great value in appraising the 
positions according to the standards of the classification that was 
proposed by that committee. 

The reports on organization, methods, and procedure consisted of 
three parts, characterized as follows : 

Part I, Descriptive reports. 

Part 2, Critical comments on organization, methods, and procedure. 

Part 3, Constructive recommendations. 

The following outline suggests, in a broad way, the scope and 
character of these reports: 

Part I. Descriptive statement of history, organization, methods, 
and procedure. 

A. Introductory. 

1. Historical. 

2. General statement of organization. 

3. Outline of functions and activities. 

4. Characterization of problems. 

5. Appropriations for the past five years. 

(a) Total. 

(b) Personal service. 

B. Descriptive statement of organization, procedure, 
and methods of overhead operation. 

1. Organization. 

2. Methods. 

87 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

character. They must present a detailed picture of de- 
partmental operations ; not a broad view of its functions. 
The specific duties devolving upon each subordinate unit 
of organization and the scientific methods of technique 
observed for the performance of those duties must be 
described. 

C. Descriptive statement of organization, procedure, 
and methods of departmental operation. 

1. Bureau No. i, 

(a) Organization. 

(b) Personnel. 

(c) Methods. 

2. Bureau No. 2. 

(a) Organization. 
(&) Personnel, 
(c) Methods. 

3. Bureau No. 3. 

(a) Organization. 

(b) Personnel. 

(c) Methods. 

Part 2. Critical comments on organization, methods, and proce- 
dure. 

A. Criticism of the overhead system of control. 

1. Handicaps due to organization. 

(a) Bureau No. i. 
(&) Bureau No. 2. 
(c) Bureau No. 3, etc. 

2. Defects in methods and procedure. 

(a) General comments as to policy. 
(&) Specific defects in procedure such as, 
(i) Defects in receiving, distribut- 
ing, and filing correspondence. 

(2) Defects in assigning work to in- 
spectors or other groups of em- 
ployees performing the same 
kind of work. 

(3) Unsuitable arrangement of of- 
fices. 

(4) Departmental practice with re- 
spect to vacation and sick leave. 

(5) Departmental practice with re- 
spect to maintenance and other 
perquisites. 

(6) Departmental practice with re- 
spect to traveling expenses, etc. 

B. Criticism of detailed methods of operation. 

C. Criticism of individual employments and employ- 
ment conditions. 

Part 3. Constructive recommendations. 

88 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

Inquiry into Standards of Civil Service Examinations. 

In recruiting and regulating employees under an or- 
ganized system of control, past experience furnishes in 
part the basis for the consideration of present problems. 
The formulation of new standards requires exhaustive 
study of the detailed methods and technique of the local 
employment board in recruiting and regulating em- 
ployees. The procedure of the civil service commission, 
as the employment board, must be examined with respect 
to the following subjects : 

Methods of advertising and arranging examinations. 

Standards of examinations as a basis for original 
appointment. 

Standards of examinations and other conditions 
governing promotion. 

The quality and standard of persons recruited 
through competitive examinations depend in part upon 
the advertising methods through which persons of 
special qualifications and potential fitness are attracted 
to the competitive examination. It is necessary to 
ascertain whether the publicity methods of the employ- 
ment board are designed to stimulate sufficiently wide 
competition. 

The character and form of advertisements, the des- 
ignated channels of publicity and the extent to which 
universities and business corporations are appealed to, 
should be considered in reference to the number of ap- 
plicants that compete for appointment to those positions 
which represent the more important lines of the public 
service. 

The standards of examination should be analyzed 
on the basis of representative examination papers. The 
basic factors, such as experience, personality, technical 
tests, etc., should be independently examined in refer- 

89 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

ence to the requirements of the position to be filled. In 
this connection the procedure preliminary to the holding 
of examination, the means employed by the commission 
to learn the requirements of the positions to be filled, 
and the methods of organizing the tests on a practical 
basis should be considered. The examination subjects 
and factors should be analyzed to determine the stand- 
ards of severity and the use of questions calling for the 
exercise of imagination, judgment, and powers of 
analysis. 

The success of examinations expressed in terms of 
the quality of persons certified should be determined. 
This is necessarily difiicult. Conclusions are valuable, 
however, even though they consist merely of opinions 
of the responsible officers as to the grade and character 
of the service that is being rendered by persons certified 
from particular eligible lists. 

Standards of Examinations and Conditions G-overning 
Promotion. The standards of promotional examina- 
tions should be examined in the same way as the stand- 
ards of examination for original appointment. It is 
equally important, however, to consider the lines and 
area of promotion — in other words, the legal or ad- 
ministrative conditions that determine the opportunity 
for promotion which is open to employees in each specific 
line of work — and the conditions that determine the 
basis for salary increases. 

Formulation of the Classification. The basis of a duties 
classification of positions or employments was reviewed 
in the previous chapter, where the conclusion was 
reached that if a classification is to be effective as an in- 
strument of control, it should treat separately each dis- 
tinctive line of work such as bookkeeping, auditing, etc. 
Such a distinctive line of work represents the broad- 

90 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

est unit into which positions can be grouped without in- 
troducing dissimilarity in respect to the general nature 
of the duties, the requirements for original entrance into 
the service, or the normal lines of promotion. The 
positions in such a distinctive line of work are so closely 
related that the salaries for each position must bear a 
very definite relationship to the others in the same line 
whether they be higher or lower. 

Lines of Work to be Distinguished. One of the earliest 
steps in the actual formulation of the classification 
proper is to reach a tentative decision regarding what 
distinctive lines of work are to be recognized. The 
questionnaires descriptive of the various positions can 
then be sorted into the lines recognized and all the other 
material collected similarly arranged so that all the data 
may be available for the staff members who are specially 
qualified for and who are to specialize in the examina- 
tion of positions in that special line. 

Although the problem of setting up tentative 
distinctive lines of work to be recognized presents some 
opportunity for the exercise of judgment, it is in the 
main to be solved on the basis of the facts regarding the 
particular service being investigated. The number of 
distinct lines that must be recognized is not to be de- 
termined arbitrarily, but will depend on the variety of 
distinct occupations and vocations being followed in 
the service, and it must be recognized that although 
most of the occupations have their counterpart in 
private life, some will almost inevitably be found that 
are peculiar to the government. Where the government 
is very large and diverse, it may be helpful in the first 
sorting of the questionnaires and other material ac- 
cording to general lines of work, to provide for a very 
limited number of miscellaneous groups that can be 

91 



. PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

subsequently made the subject of special study to de- 
termine to what extent they require recognition as 
distinct lines. 

The number of positions concerned and the degree 
of distinctiveness of the lines of work will require care- 
ful consideration in reaching a final decision as to 
whether a given type of work should be recognized as a 
distinct line. Some positions are so unique that even 
though there be but one or two of them in the service, 
they will have to be recognized as constituting a dis- 
tinct line, because they will have to be filled by special 
examinations and they must have salaries in harmony 
with those paid by private employers for that particular 
type of work. The small number of artificial limb 
makers and fitters employed by the federal government 
on account of the war furnishes a good illustration of 
such a line of work. In clerical work are found the best 
illustrations of cases where the number of positions 
concerned is an important factor. If a city has just a 
few clerks giving their full time to statistical clerical 
work, it is not necessary to recognize statistical clerical 
work as a distinct line, for these positions can be filled 
passably well from selection among persons who have 
general clerical qualifications and are particularly good 
in arithmetic. If, on the other hand, the service con- 
tains large numbers of statistical clerks, as is the case 
in the national government, special entrance examina- 
tions may well be given to test ability for this particular 
line of work and careful consideration must be given as 
to whether the salaries are properly adjusted. Defects 
that are not of very great consequence when they affect 
only one or two employees become of very great moment 
when many are concerned. The number of employees 
involved must, therefore, be considered as one factor in 

92 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

reaching a decision regarding the lines of work to be 
recognized as distinctive. 

The Division into Classes or Grades. After the distinc- 
tive Hnes to be recognized have been tentatively deter- 
mined and all the material collected has been sorted ac- 
cordingly, comes the most difficult and important work 
in classification, the division of all the positions or lines 
of work into grades or classes. The recognition of the 
vocation or occupation of the incumbent of a given 
position is in the great majority of cases simple; and it 
is not particularly difficult to say what the minimum 
and maximum salaries should be for that line of work. 
One can, for example, easily recognize a stenographer 
from the duties stated on the questionnaire, and 
fairly general agreement can be reached on what range 
there should be between the most elementary routine 
stenographic work and the most difficult shorthand re- 
porting. The real task is to say how the stenographic 
positions should be divided into classes or grades and 
how the several classes or grades shall be compensated. 
It is here that the real salary control comes in, and it is 
in this feature of the work that the employees and the 
administrators are most vitally concerned. 

Differences of opinion are more common in respect 
to this division of a particular line of work into grades 
or classes than they are in respect to any other technical 
process of classification. In several classifications the 
practice has been to determine tentatively upon a given 
number of grades, which are defined in fairly general 
terms upon the basis of responsibility, difficulty of per- 
formance, and qualifications involved, and then to pro- 
vide for the grades a series of standard salary ranges. 
The particular line of work is then divided into grades 
or classes in such a way that some one of the standard 

93 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION ^ 

ranges can be applied. Where this method has been 
adopted, the practice has not infrequently been followed 
of consolidating several closely related kinds of work 
into a single more or less composite grade, if it is be- 
lieved that a common entrance examination can properly 
be given for recruiting for all the different kinds of 
work included in the lowest grade. This practice has 
been followed notably in the clerical field, where the ten- 
tative grades have been defined in terms of clerical work 
in general and not in the terms of any distinct kind of 
clerical work in particular. The general terms of defi- 
nition have been given particularity by the free use of 
illustrative examples drawn from typical kinds of clerical 
work. 

The Wisconsin Method of G-rading Clerical Positions. 
A more scientific and perhaps more satisfactory method 
of grading services as a basis for specifications was 
made by Wisconsin in classifying clerical positions. 

In order to secure the points of view of different 
employees interested in various phases of clerical work 
and to understand the various problems confronting the 
different organizations making up the state govern- 
ment, some twenty employees representing twelve de- 
partments were selected from the several departments to 
assist in the preparation of a standard specification 
chart. 

The lines of work and grades of responsibility rep- 
resented are indicated by the list of employees selected : 

Five chief clerks. 

Five accountants. 

Two statisticians. 

Two filing and index clerks. 

Three secretarial clerks. 

Two professors from the school of commerce. 

94 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

Tabulation and Classification of Primary Work Elements. 

From a study of the descriptive statements furnished 
by the departments with respect to each clerk in the 
service, a Hst of typical clerical duties was made. This 
was essentially a tabulation of primary work elements 
listed in such terms as the following : 

Searches record files for statistical information. 

Files cards, correspondence, reports, etc., according 
to subjects. 

Briefs correspondence. 

Classifies materials according to subjects. 

The duties so listed cover the entire range of clerical 
routine from the simplest duties of the office boy to those 
of the private secretary and chief clerk. 

Work elements that involve practically the same 
degree of ability were grouped together and posted to 
cards. The following, for example, indicates a group- 
ing of duties that was called '' a typical duty." 

Opens and sorts mail. 

Inspects all addressed mail before it leaves the office. 

Sends out set form requests, acknowledgments, etc. 

Has charge of requests for printed matter. 

Answers requests for fixed information, filling in 
set forms. 

Answers common requests for fixed information, 
using form paragraphs. 

The primary elements so tabulated were then 
grouped into reasonably well defined functional classes, 
as follows: 

Class C, relating to correspondence. 

Class F, relating to filing and indexing. 

Class S, relating to statistical work. 

Class R, relating to recording. 

Class E, relating to examining and certifying. 

95 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

The next step was to arrange the typical duties, 
within each of the five functional classes, according to 
the degrees of responsibility involved, and difficulty of 
performance. The employees designated to assist in 
the development of the classification chart were organ- 
ized into committees for the purpose of this work. The 
exact nature of the process is indicated by the instruc- 
tions issued by the civil service commission: 

On each card is indicated a typical clerical duty, and these 
duties are divided into groups (a group in each pack) for the 
sake of convenience. All cards in a pack are marked M^ith the 
same letter. 

Sort one pack at a time as follows : Arrange the cards 
of a pack in a serial order, according to the relative degree of 
ability required to efficiently perform the duties enumerated. 
Place numbers on the cards according to this serial arrange- 
ment, numbering as one the card on which is indicated the 
duty, the performance of which requires the lowest degree of 
ability. Arrange these cards in a pack again and repeat the 
operation for each of the other packs. 

Under no condition number alike two cards in the same 
pack. 

Please consider the matter of the arrangement very care- 
fully. 

The result of this process is illustrated by an excerpt 
from the arrangement of typical duties for the distinct 
line of work — filing and indexing. It was as follows: 

1. Cuts and pastes clippings. 

2. Numbers cards, correspondence, reports, etc., serially, 
using machine. 

3. Numbers cards, correspondence, reports, etc., serially 
without machine. 

4. Locates towns, cities, etc., geographically and writes 
classification on same. 

5. Files cards, correspondence, reports, etc., alphabet- 
ically, numerically, chronologically, or geographically 
without further subdivision. 

96 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

6. Files cards, correspondence, reports, etc., alphabet- 
ically, numerically, chronologically, or geographically 
with further subdivision. 

7. Searches record files for desired information, follow- 
ing a simple scheme of classification. 

8. Makes out index cards for classified papers, records, 
etc., including the recording of items from several 
sources. 

9. Files cards, correspondence, reports, etc., according to 
subject or subjects using a decimal or special scheme 
of filing. 

10. Searches record files for desired information, requir- 
ing a thorough knowledge of cross reference. 

11. Briefs correspondence. 

12. Classifies correspondence according to subject or sub- 
jects, using cross references. 

13. Classifies reports, clippings, books, and such material 
according to subjects, using cross references. 

14. Classifies material according to subject or subjects and 
according to use to be made of material. 

15. Devises or revises index and filing scheme to meet 
peculiar needs. 

16. Classifies material according to subject or subjects, 
calling for an extensive use of technical terms and a 
comprehensive knowledge of departmental procedure, 
etc. 

Having arranged the primary work elements or 
typical duties in the order of their importance for each 
distinctive line of work, the next step was to group 
these duties into grades as a basis for specifying stand- 
ard duties and salary rates. This involved determining 
where the grade limit should be drawn and the line of 
graduated responsibility set up. The gradation was 
made by the cooperating employees organized into com- 
mittees and working under the direction of the civil 
service commission examiners. Each employee was 
given five sheets representing the five groupings re- 
ferred to. On each sheet was found the relative ar- 
rangement of the duties of that particular line of work. 

97 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION , 

The arrangement represented the consensus of opinion 
of 22 persons as to the relative degree of ability required 
to perform efficiently the duties enumerated. 

The process of grading each line of work was as 
follows : Beginning with the lowest order, that is, duty 
No. I, the list was carefully read down and examined. 
When the examiner came to a duty that he believed 
required a distinctly higher type of ability in its func- 
tional performance, he placed a mark between it and 
the preceding duty. This process was continued for the 
entire list. The result was a division of the list of duties 
into groups of duties. All within the same group 
represented the examiner's opinion of all duties falling 
within the same group, as involving the same degree of 
responsibility and the same degree of ability in their 
performance. 

To facilitate the grouping of duties on this plan an 
outline chart of the following form was used : 



Corre- 
spond- 
ence 
















Filing 

and 

Indexing 
















Statisti- 
cal 
Work 
















Recording 
















Examining 

and 
Certifying 

















In the vertical sections were assigned by number 
the card or cards representing the duties requiring 
practically the same degree of ability. In the horizontal 

98 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

sections were the duties of the same class, such as 
examining and certifying. The groups were arranged 
progressively from left to right, the first vertical section 
at the left representing the lowest grade of duties. Two 
cards which represent the same grade of work responsi- 
bility would be posted or located in the same square. 
The last step resulted in the final classification chart of 
duties. It is important to note that steps preliminary to 
the setting up of the grade limits represented the agree- 
ment of practically all departmental representatives 
participating in the inquiry. The actual marking off of 
the grade limits, however, showed considerable dififer- 
ence of opinion. The consensus of opinion favored six 
grades in the clerical service. Despite the fact that this 
seemed none too many for certain of the larger and 
more highly organized departments, it did not seem 
advisable to make that number for the entire Wisconsin 
service. A division into four grades was agreed upon. 

The fixing of the grade limits was made largely on 
the basis of the points of separation between successive 
grades indicated by the assisting departmental repre- 
sentatives. It was recognized that false, arbitrary, or 
too fine distinctions might develop when the chart was 
applied. 

In the Wisconsin service many stenographers devote 
much time to clerical duties. In many cases this is 
necessary. The nature of these clerical duties, however, 
should be considered and should play a part in determin- 
ing the classification of the stenographers. To facilitate 
classification in these cases, a combined classification 
chart, including both clerical and stenographers' chart, 
was developed. 

Use of Classification Chart. To show the application 
of the Wisconsin classification chart, let us take a prac- 

99 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION ' 

tical illustration. Suppose that the duties of a clerk 

are as follows: 

Time 

Examines reports noting whether or not all points 

involved in the questions are answered 30 per cent. 

Writes concerning the defects or deficiencies that he 

finds in these reports ; 5 P^^ cent. 

Answers requests for information, requiring simple 
but variable replies ; lO per cent. 

Interviews and supplies general information to the 
public 20 per cent. 

Prepares subject matter for departmental advertis- 
ing 10 per cent. 

Classifies material according to subject or use to be 
made of the material 20 per cent. 

Answers all 'phone calls 5 per cent. 

Projecting these duties upon the chart it is found that 

the distribution of time is as follows: 

Grades 
123 4 

Cor. . 5 per cent. . .15 per cent. . 

F. & I. . . .20 per cent. . 

R. ! '. '. ! '. 

s. ! '. '. ! "", 

Exam. 60 per cent. 

This shows that the major part of this clerk's time is 
devoted to duties falling under the grade 3. Therefore 
it was decided he should receive a salary within the 
limits of that grade. The amount of time he devotes 
to duties of a higher or lower group, the efficiency of 
his work, and seniority should play a part in determining 
what his salary should be within these limits. 
Clerical Classification of the Congressional Commission. 
The method followed by the Joint Congressional Com- 

100 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

mission on Reclassification of Salaries for the clerical 
positions was, in several respects, similar to that pur- 
sued in Wisconsin, but the Commission omitted the last 
step and did not attempt to consolidate the different 
types or lines of clerical work into one uniform series 
of grades. Instead it divided each particular line 
into classes on the basis of the facts for that particular 
line without reference to exactly what had been done 
in dividing other lines. When salaries were fixed, the 
several lines were compared, but no attempt was made 
to establish one uniform grading system or one uniform 
scheme of salary ranges applicable to all kinds of 
clerical work. The Commission took the position that 
a uniform system of grades and ranges did violence to 
the facts they found. The national service at Washing- 
ton included over 50,000 clerks, and consequently the 
effects of any arbitrary decisions would have been much 
more far-reaching than they would be in a state or 
municipal service with a much smaller body of clerical 
employees. 

The practice of the Commission in respect to the 
clerical service was as follows : 

The classification staff of the Commission was made 
up of employees of the several departments detailed 
to the Commission at its request. They were generally 
selected because of some special knowledge or experi- 
ence that was believed to fit them for the classification 
of a particular line of work. They were under the 
immediate direction of the so-called "headquarters 
staff," who supplied the technical knowledge of and 
experience in classification. For each type of clerical 
work a staff committee was organized, consisting of 
most if not all the members of the staff who had special 
knowledge of the particular work. The chairman of 



lOI 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

each of these committees was the one primarily re- 
sponsible for the formulation of the specifications and 
the other members were either assistants or consultants. 

The chairmen of the several clerical committees 
constituted the clerical group committee which was the 
coordinating agency and the form for the discussion of 
common problems. The chairman of the group com- 
mittee was ex-officio member of all the clerical com- 
mittees. A member of the headquarters staff almost 
invariably sat with the committees, and there was close 
cooperation between the several chairmen and the mem- 
bers of the headquarters staff. 

The more important lines of clerical work recog- 
nized, with the approximate number of positions in each 
were as follows: 

Mail, file, and record 18,000 

Typing, stenographic, and correspondence 16,000 

Fiscal and accounting 6,600 

Messenger 3,400 

Supply and equipment 3,ioo 

Statistical clerical 2,000 

Office appliance operating 2,000 

Personnel ,. ., 1,200 

Mechanical tabulation 1,000 

Publications and information 1,000 

Administrative and supervisory clerical 500 

Miscellaneous clerical 6,000 

After the questionnaires descriptive of the various 
positions had been arranged according to organization 
units, they were examined and symbolized according to 
the particular line of work involved. They were then 
sorted by the line of work, and all questionnaires for a 
given line were turned over to the committee specially 
organized to handle them. 

The committees then prepared tentative specifica- 
tions for the classes into which their particular line of 

102 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

work was to be divided. For this purpose they drew 
on several sources of information. They reviewed 
hurriedly the questionnaires sorted to their particular 
line of work, and since most of the members had come 
from the respective lines concerned, they drew on their 
own knowledge of the positions involved. They con- 
sulted informally with officers and employees in the 
government service and others in whom they had con- 
fidence. They organized informal advisory committees 
of officers and employees in the service at Washington. 
Suggestions were also derived from study of titles and 
specifications printed in the reports of other modern 
classifications. From all these sources the tentative 
specifications were developed. 

After the tentative class specifications had been 
developed, they were tested and perfected through apply- 
ing them in sorting all the questionnaires to classes. 
This involved a careful, minute reading of each ques- 
tionnaire and, in some instances, special inquiries had 
to be made for further information. When the specifi- 
cations had thus been tested, by seeing that they were 
applicable to the various positions, they were mimeo- 
graphed and submitted to representative committees of 
the employees and the administrators concerned for 
criticism and suggestion. Each of these committees was 
given a hearing, at which they submitted such criticism 
of the specifications as they cared to make and their sug- 
gestions regarding what would be a suitable salary scale. 

When the specifications for the clerical classes had 
been finally drafted, those for each numerically impor- 
tant class were typed in an abbreviated form on three 
by five cards, which were kept in series according to 

lines of work. Several long tables were placed end to 

103 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

end, and strings were run the length of all the tables in 
such a way that the surface of the tables was marked 
off like a gridiron by horizontal lines. The cards for 
each type of work were then arranged in a vertical row 
running from front to back at a right angle to the 
strings, with the cards for the lowest class at the front 
and the highest at the back. The individual cards in 
the several vertical rows were then moved forward or 
back as the case might be until all the cards falling in 
the same horizontal lines, as marked off by the strings, 
appeared to the classifiers to be positions of like value. 
Thus the classifiers had before them a graphical chart 
of the numerically important clerical positions, and by 
following any string across one could readily compare 
the classes in the several lines of work that were re- 
garded as of equal value. For several days the cards 
were kept thus arranged so that various members of the 
staff could inspect them and offer criticisms. This 
device was not absolutely the controlling factor in de- 
termining the salaries suggested to the Commission as 
the basis for recommendations to be made to Congress ; 
certain other factors were also taken into consideration, 
but it greatly facilitated the work of adjusting salaries 
as it afforded a ready means of comparison. 

In the opinion of the staff of the Commission con- 
cerned with the clerical positions, the method demon- 
strated graphically the wisdom of the decision not to 
attempt to consolidate the different kinds of clerical 
work into a limited number of standard grades. Al- 
though something could have been done in this direction 
without doing violence to the facts of the service, many 
classes were found that required more individual treat- 
ment. In the national service at Washington the num- 
ber of clerical positions is so great that any arbitrary 

104 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

consolidation or grading is of far more serious conse- 
quence than it is in a city or state service. 
Revision of Specifications. To insure thorough and ef- 
fective criticism of the specifications, it is highly 
desirable that departmental committees be designated 
to examine and criticize the tentative specifications. 
Separate committees should be formed for specifications 
of all important lines of work. The committees should 
consist of employees who have expert information or 
wide experience in the line of work to be criticized. 
Furthermore, the committees should be as representa- 
tive of the departments as is necessary to reflect all 
points of view of the problem. 

As the final step in revision, it is desirable to hold 
formal conference with these committees and discuss 
the criticisms which they wish to offer. Records of 
these discussions should be preserved for reference 
and use. 

Review of Specifications. Specialists outside the service 
and others properly qualified should be requested to 
review the tentative specifications on the basis of their 
knowledge and experience. This applies particularly to 
specifications covering the professional and scientific 
services. Such review will prove highly advantageous 
in obtaining a well rounded and unbiased point of view, 
thereby enabling the standardizing agency finally to 
establish sound and thoroughly practical employment 
regulations. 

Determining Standards of Compensation. After the 
classification proper has been perfected, the next prob- 
lem is to determine the salaries to be paid to the several 
grades or classes established. The prevailing or market 
rate of salaries and wages must of necessity be the 
primary factor in determining rates of compensation 

105 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

for the public service. Independent investigation is 
necessary to determine the prevaiHng or market salary- 
rates. The local banking, industrial, and other cor- 
porations of the community should be visited to deter- 
mine private rates for work that is comparable to that 
being prosecuted by the government. 

There are two kinds of data that may be developed 
in this connection: information as to existing schedules 
of salary and wage rates, and the opinion of employers 
as to what the government should pay for specific lines 
and grades of work. The opinions are, of course, the 
easier to collect but they are less conclusive. 

The character of the statistical information de- 
veloped with respect to private practice will depend 
largely upon the time and effort that can be expended 
in this branch of the inquiry. Any well organized 
private corporation is in a position to furnish fairly 
easily a distribution of its full-time employees according 
to general lines of work and salary rates. Such a dis- 
tribution on a definite monthly or yearly basis might 
show in the first instance the number of clerical em- 
ployees drawing less than $6 a week, the number be- 
tween $6 and $8, $8 and $12, $12 and $18, etc. Such 
figures can be secured easily. 

Some corporations have graded their employees 
according to duties and responsibility. Such informa- 
tion is of definite and concrete value in establishing 
standards for comparable lines of work in the govern- 
ment service. Many private employers would be in a 
position to make a tentative grading of certain groups 
of their employees in order to furnish information as 
to what the standards appear to be, or could supply 
statements regarding the nature of duties and compen- 
sation that would permit of grading by the standardiz- 

106 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

ing agency, provided the time and money is available 
for such work. 

Hypothetical questions predicated upon representa- 
tive positions in the government furnish a definite basis 
for an expression of opinion by private employers as 
to the grade of work involved and the amount the 
government should pay for it. Hypothetical questions 
of this character in terms of standards of work were 
submitted by the Senate Committee to representative 
employers of the State of New York. Hypothetical 
statements — each statement representing a grade of 
work — were sent to a number of employers familiar 
with the line of work specified. The returns revealed 
a marked agreement as to the standards of compensa- 
tion that should be applied. Disagreement in the num- 
ber of cases reflected differences in the employment 
policy. It was found, for example, that certain em- 
ployers were consistently low in rating classes of work 
submitted to them; others consistently high. Later, 
specific positions in the state service which, on the basis 
of tentative appraisals were thought to be high or low 
in salary rates, were submitted for appraisal. The re- 
turns from private employers in this respect were 
equally gratifying, tending to confirm the standards 
employed as a basis for the appraisal as well as the 
appraisal itself. 

Appraisal of Emplo3nnents on the Basis of Standard 
Specifications. Having established the standard speci- 
fications and determined the rates of compensation, the 
next step in the prosecution of a standardization inquiry 
is to appraise or allocate each position according to such 
standards. The purpose of such appraisal is to deter- 
mine where each position falls in the standard specifica- 
tions, thereby laying the basis for the application of 

107 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

standard titles (thus correcting the fictitious and ir- 
regular titles that exist), the application of the standard 
rates of compensation (thus correcting the excess or 
inadequacy of pay), and the determining, by means of 
the standard duties, whether employees are performing 
the duties that should be performed, as a basis for 
payroll certification. 

Tentative Appraisals by Staff Examiners. The initial or 
tentative appraisals of the individual positions should 
be made by the staff examiners assigned to specific 
departments for the purpose of verifying the civil 
service work records of each employee and collecting 
information with respect thereto. The departmental 
examiner should participate in the appraisal of all 
positions in those departments which he has studied, 
inasmuch as he is best informed as to the employment 
conditions within such departments. He should be 
assisted by at least one other examiner, preferably the 
one who prepared the specifications governing the posi- 
tions to be appraised. An apparently good technique 
in appraisal or allocation is as follows : 

a. The appraisal group should consist of at least two ex- 
aminers for each department, one of whom should be the 
examiner who investigated the department. 

b. The individual work records with supporting field notes 
should furnish the basis for tentative appraisal. One of the 
appraisal group, preferably the departmental examiner, should 
read and interpret the work description, after which each ex- 
aminer should independently express his opinion as to the line 
and grade of work into which the position falls. Upon agree- 
ment the position should be tentatively entered on a form. 

c. Each position should be appraised at a salary rate pro- 
vided for in the standard specifications. To facilitate further 
appraisal the consideration would be desirable to set up on an 
appropriate form, such as is herein suggested, the minimum 
and maximum salary limits, together with a description of the 
standard rate (that is, within rrade) which is nearest to the 

io8 



CONDUCT OF A STANDARDIZATION INQUIRY 

existing salary rate. If the existing salary rate falls outside 
the limits of the grade in which the work is appraised, an 
appropriate notation such as "out of grade" should be made 
Where the existing rate falls within the limits of the grade 
in which the work is appraised, but does not agree with one 
of the standard rates of the grade, the position should be ap- 
praised at the nearest salary rate whether such appraised rate 
be higher or lower than the present rate. 

Where the present rate falls within the limits of the grade 
in which the work is appraised but is half-way between two 
standard rates, it should be appraised at the higher rate. 

d. Appraisals should be made on an impersonal basis. 
Examiners who have made intensive studies of departments 
often are able to identify, from the work record, the particular 
incumbent of the position being appraised. As a result an 
element of bias often threatens their judgment. Discussion 
between members of the appraisal group should, as far as 
possible, omit references to personal characteristics of the 
employees. The appraisal should be based solely upon the 
difficulty of the work, its importance and the technical qualifi- 
cations required in performance. 

e. The appraisal should be made upon the basis of work 
grades rather than salary grades. Salary limits must, of 
course, be set up in defining work standards, and it is difficult 
to consider a grade of work except in its relation to the stand- 
ards of compensation. The grade of work, however, must fur- 
nish the basis of appraisal. 

The adequacy of the specifications is tested in the 
appraisal work. Inability to relate a given position to 
that grade of work in which it properly falls often 
brings to light inaccurate or inadequate definitions of 
work standards. Specifications that with equal warrant 
permit the appraisal of positions in one of two grades, 
indicate that the standards are not mutually exclusive 
and that the grades of responsibility are not clearly 
defined. Such disclosures should lead to further in- 
tensive study with a view to revising the specifications. 
Often difficulties will arise in appraising positions 
through the fault of the examiners. Differences of 

109 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

opinion should be referred promptly with full explana- 
tions to the supervisor in charge of the work. 

The results of the appraisals should be recorded in 
comparative form. Positions for each department 
should be listed according to existing schedules and 
according to the proposed standards. 
Investigation of Positions Appraised Out of Grade. 
The number of employments that receive excessive or 
inadequate rates of pay will vary somewhat according 
to the influences that have made for standardization. 
Each position appraised out of grade should receive fur- 
ther investigation by the standardization staff. The pro- 
cedure should provide for the immediate review of these 
appraisals by the supervisor in charge of the work. 
Review of Appraisals. Before the appraisals of posi- 
tions according to existing standards are used as a basis 
for readjustment according to the policies defined by 
the standardization agencies, departmental officers 
should have an opportunity to review and criticize the 
conclusions reached. This is essential not only to insure 
against errors on the part of the technical examiners 
but also to secure their cooperation in the adoption of 
the program. 

The measures to be employed and the practical steps 
to be taken in applying the results of the standardization 
study would follow the principles laid down in this 
section and also in Chapter IV. 



CHAPTER VI 
RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

Examination as the Basis of Selection. "Hiring the 
worker" is the first step in actual employment control. 
It is, indeed, only a first step, which must be followed 
up by equally important acts of control and leadership. 
Hiring does, however, furnish the "raw material" of 
all subsequent employment processes, and is, therefore, 
of basic importance. 

In the field of private enterprise the selection of 
employees is generally carried on by more or less hap- 
hazard methods. Employees are hired on the basis of 
a personal interview, sometimes supplemented by an 
investigation of references. In the more progressive 
establishments, where well developed employment de- 
partments exist, refinements in methods of interviewing 
and formal methods of testing the fitness of applicants 
are beginning to be introduced. 

In civil service employment, on the other hand, the 
selection of employees has been based, for a number of 
years, in large part on a formal competitive examina- 
tion. The employer, in this case the appointing officer, 
is not allowed to select employees entirely on the basis 
of personal judgment or impression. He is usually re- 
stricted in his choice to three persons who have been 
certified to him, as eligible on the basis of the results of 
a competitive examination. 

The competitive examination as a means of selecting 
public employees is justified by political considerations. 

Ill 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

It was introduced as an integral part of the merit sys- 
tem. The competitive examination is the only means 
of selecting public employees which is able to prevent i 
the use of patronage as a device for controlling elections. ' 
It is the only means of opening up the opportunities in 
the public service in a way which is fair to all citizens 
and in accordance with the principles of democratic gov- 
ernment. It is justified, in the second place, on the 
ground of effectiveness. Viewed merely in the light of 
scientific employment control, it is the most practical 
means of selecting from a large group of applicants 
those who are best qualified and who will, therefore, be 
most efficient and in the long run contented in a given 
line of employment. It is a method of selection superior 
to the inexact and impressionistic method hitherto in 
vogue in private employment. This fact is attested to 
by the present tendency among private employers to 
adopt formal tests of fitness as a means of selection. 

The recruiting and selection of a personnel of good 
ability is possible only where attractive conditions of 
employment obtain. No method of selection can be 
expected to secure a high type of personnel unless the 
conditions of employment are such as to attract in con- 
siderable numbers high-grade applicants. Given con- 
ditions in the civil service which attract in large numbers 
candidates of good or superior ability, the competitive 
examination can be depended on as an effective means 
of discovering and selecting the best qualified applicants. 

In civil service administration, the competitive ex- 
amination, though used generally as the means of se- 
lection, is not applied universally. Certain positions are 
filled on the basis of a non-competitive or pass exami- 
nation, and some positions are treated as ''exempt" from 
all examination requirements. 

112 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

The non-competitive examination is sometimes 
thought by civil service commissions to be the only prac- 
tical means of filling certain positions, particularly those 
requiring highly > specialized professional or executive 
qualifications. The pass examination, indeed, may be 
properly used in filling some of these higher positions. 
The only real reason for its use is, however, that an 
adequate test of fitness for the position in question 
cannot be devised and that the selection must be made 
almost entirely on the basis of the past experience and 
the personality of the applicant. Wherever an effective 
test of fitness can be devised there is no reason why it 
should not be administered on a competitive basis. In 
the present state of knowledge concerning examining 
technique, it is sometimes difficult or impossible to devise 
effective tests of fitness. As knowledge of examining 
technique increases, it will be possible to devise suitable 
tests as a basis of recruiting employees for the highest 
civil service positions, and as these tests are developed 
they should be administered on the basis of open com- 
petition. 

The so-called non-assembled examination is some- 
times used as a basis of filling the higher professional 
and executive positions. It is in principle a competitive 
examination, though it does not require the competitors 
to assemble in a group. It is an individual rather than 
a group examination. It is useful especially in that it 
overcomes the objection that men of proved ability some- 
times feel to entering a group examination. The non- 
assembled examination thus affords a useful means of 
extending the application of the competitive principle. 
The Examining Agency. The civil service commission 
devises and conducts examinations to determine the 
fitness of applicants for entrance to the "classified" civil 

113 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

service. In the larger jurisdictions a more or less 
elaborate organization is needed for the performance 
of this function. A chief examiner, assisted by a staff 
of special examiners and clerical assistants, is usually 
charged with the duty of devising and conducting ex- 
aminations. 

In determining the subjects that enter into a given 
examination and the relative importance of the subjects, 
civil service commissions frequently cooperate with the 
department heads or appointing officers concerned. This 
practice is entirely in line with progressive methods of 
employment control and might well be extended. Con- 
cerning this point a committee of the National Assembly 
of Civil Service Commissions in 1919 made the follow- 
ing recommendations: 

1. That a statement of duties be secured from the ap- 
pointing officer, but an investigation and check of them be 
made by an examiner. 

2. That suggestions as to subjects and weights be secured 
from appointing officers, decision as to these matters to re- 
main with the commission. 

3. That examiners be selected by the commission from 
among those best qualified to act, suggestions as to qualifica- 
tions of examiners being invited from appointing officers. Ap- 
pointing officers are not to serve on examining boards except 
in special cases in written examinations and only when identity 
of applicants is fully concealed. 

4. That questions be formulated by the examining board 
on the duties to be performed and the qualifications desired 
in the position, and kept secret from all other persons except 
the commissioners. 

In addition to the aid derived from department 
heads or other administrative officers, civil service com- 
missions, in devising examinations, frequently avail 
themselves of the aid of outside experts in the various 
trades and professions. The civil service commission, 

114 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

however, is the responsible examining agency, and it 
should rely mainly on its own staff for the preparation 
and conduct of suitable examinations. When outside 
aid is required in the conduct of examinations, it would 
seem to be advisable to provide for a suitable per diem 
rate of compensation. 

The devising of civil service examinations that are 
at once effective and free from an undue amount of 
duplication is an arduous undertaking. Civil service 
commissions would be greatly assisted in this work by 
the creation of a central agency for the exchange of 
in:8ormation and the study of Iscientific /methods of 
examination. Such an agency should study recent de- 
velopments in the field of mental, trade, and educational 
measurement. The various local civil service commis- 
sions can hardly be expected to follow these develop- 
ments of scientific method and to appraise their 
significance. A central agency would be in a position 
to evaluate recent developments and to make them gen- 
erally available for use by civil service commissions. 
Factors of Civil Service Examination. The word "ex- 
amination" as used in civil service nomenclature has an 
unusually broad significance. It may denote a valuation 
or rating of all the facts concerning an applicant that are 
relevant in determining his fitness for civil service em- 
ployment. An examination in this sense may include 
a number of other factors in addition to the examination 
designed to reveal special knowledge or general intel- 
ligence. It may include a rating of the applicant's ex- 
perience, education, physical condition, personality, and 
sometimes of his citizenship. 

The factors that enter into a given examination de- 
pend on the kind of employment in question. The rating 
of personality might not enter at all into an examination 

115 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

designed for the selection of the lower grades of clerical 
workers, though it would enter into an examination for 
the higher grades of office executives. The rating of 
experience might not enter into the selection of the 
lower grades of clerical employees, though it would enter 
into the selection of accountants or engineers. Accord- 
ing to present practice in the national service, the rating 
of experience is practically the sole determining factor 
in the selection of accountants. This circumstance is 
due in large part to the difficulty of devising a suitable 
written test of fitness. The written test of special 
knowledge, however, is generally a factor of civil service 
examinations. 

The factors of a given examination are assigned 
different relative weights according to the type of em- 
ployment. Thus, the written test of an applicant's 
knowledge would be given greater weight in selecting 
a statistical clerk than in selecting an athletic director. 
The rating of physical condition would likewise be given 
greater weight in selecting a physical director than in 
selecting a statistical clerk. The rating of personality 
would be given greater relative weight in selecting a 
purchasing agent than in selecting a skilled mechanic. 
The relative weights of these factors should obviously 
vary with the different lines of employment. 

In practice, commissions have failed to reach or even 
approach agreement in the matter of assigning weight to 
the various examination factors. It is to be expected 
that different relative weights will be assigned to the 
examination factors used in selecting workers for the 
different types of employment. Commissions, however, 
have failed to assign the same relative weight to the 
factors and subjects used in selecting workers for the 
same type of employment. 

ii6 



' RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

Data on this subject, derived from a study of the 
practice of the principal civil service commissions 
throughout the country, have been presented by Chief 
Examiner Charles P. Messick of New Jersey, revealing 
the fact that in conducting examinations for clerks 
(salary $65 to $125 per month) ten representative com- 
missions make use of the following widely divergent 
methods in the distribution of weights, as well as in the 
selection of examination subjects: 

Commission No. i : Weight 

Arithmetic 3 

Handwriting 3 

General paper including a letter 4 

Total 10 

Commission No. 2 : 

Spelling ; — i 

Arithmetic 2 

Letter writing i 

Penmanship i 

Copying 2 

Experience 3 

Total . . , I 1 :. . •> 10 

Commission No. 3 : 

Duties 20 

Letter writing . .1 1. . .1 15 

Arithmetic .1 1. . .1 u 15 

Penmanship and neatness 30 

Experience .,. 20 

Total . ., 100 

Commission No. 4: 

Experience 1. . .; 4 

Duties 6 

Total i. 10 

117 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION i 

Commission No. 5: Weight 

Experience and training .....;.. .1 30 

Duties I • ' 20 

Letter writing 10 

Penmanship . . ., ,. . . .1 1 15 

Special 5 

Arithmetic : 1 > 20 

Total 100 

Commission No. 6: 

Experience 20 

Duties 25 

Arithmetic . .1 1 ■ 20 

Penmanship . .i — : 20 

Composition . .> 5 

Spelling 10 

Total . ., 100 

Commission No. 7 : 

Experience and training 3 

General subject (educational) 4 

Duties, office routine, etc . . . . 3 

Total i. ., 10 

Commission No. 8: 

Filing ! 5 

Record keeping 4 

Arithmetic . .1 i 

Total I. . .1 10 

Commission No. 9: 

Practical questions 1 4 

Experience 3 

Oral 3 



Total 



10 



Commission No. 10 : 

Practical questions > 6 

Experience and training 4 

Total ., 10 

118 



' RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

It appears, further, that in conducting examinations 
for assistant civil engineers (salary $140 to $170 per 
month), representative commissions use the following 
methods : 



Commission No. i : Weight 

Experience 2 

Technical 6 

Mathematics 2 

Total 1 10 

Commission No. 2 : 

Special subject 5 

Experience 3 

Mathematics i 

Report I. . . I 

Total 10 

Commission No. 3 : 

Mathematics 1 > • .1 10 

Surveying 10 

Designing 30 

Construction ■.. ., 20 

General experience 25 

Local experience • — 5 

Total , 100 

Commission No. 4 : 

Education, experience, and training 7 

Thesis .1 • .1 3 

Total 10 

Commission No. 5 : 

Experience and training 4 

Mathematics 2 

Technical subject . ., 4 

Total 10 

119 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Commission No. 6: Weight 

Experience 3 

Practical 5 

Oral 2 

Total I. .1 lo 

Commission No. 7: 

Experience 10 

Design . . . . .|. . .1 »..i. 2 

Mathematics 2 

Materials . .1 3 

Engineering theory 1. . .i 1. . .1. . .1 3 

Total 20 

In the selection of civil service examiners (salary 
$140 to $200 per month) there is also great variety in 
practice : 

Commission No. i : Weight 

Duties 5 

Experience 3 

Oral duties 2 

Total .1 ,. . 10 

Commission No. 2 : 

Thesis . .: ,. . .1. . . . , 2 

Practical questions 3 

Experience 5 

Total ., ,. . 10 

Commission No. 3 : 

Experience ......; , 3 

Special subject 7 

Total 10 

Commission No. 4 : 

Experience 3 

Practical 4 

Oral ..!...; 1 1 3 

Total I — (. . 10 

120 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

Commission No. 5 : Weight 

Experience 4 

Special subject (written) , : 3 

Special subject (oral) .1 , 3 



Total 



10 



This situation plainly indicates the need of scientific 
study of examining methods. Given the use of more 
objective methods in the devising of examinations, sub- 
stantially the same relative weights would be assigned, 
of course, to examination factors used in selecting work- 
ers for the same type of employment, regardless of the 
civil service jurisdiction within which they are selected. 
The Written Examination. The preparation and con- 
duct of written examinations constitutes the most im- 
portant single function of the civil service commission. 

The written examination is intended to test the in- 
tellectual qualifications of the applicant for the line of 
employment in question. Other forms of examination 
may serve substantially the same purpose. Thus, the 
so-called practical examination, as used in testing 
clerical workers or skilled tradesmen, serves as a meas- 
ure of special or technical knowledge. The so-called 
oral examination or interview may also serve as a means 
of determining the knowledge and intelligence of an 
applicant. All these forms of examination may have 
substantially the same function. These examinations 
will be considered here not under the heading of a com- 
mon function, but under their customary civil service 
designations as written, practical, and oral examina- 
tions. 

The written examination may test two essentially 

^Messick, "Should the Weight to Be Given to Experience Be 
Variable or Constant in All Civil Service Examinations?" National 
Assembly of Civil Service Commissions, 1919. 

121 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION ' 

distinct phases of the intellectual equipment of an 
applicant: actual knowledge and intellectual capability. 
These functions of a written test, while not absolutely 
distinct, may well be considered separately. 

A written examination may test actual knowledge. 
The actual knowledge of an applicant for employment 
falls, however, into two more or less distinct categories. 
It may be knowledge of a general nature or special 
knowledge concerning a particular trade or occupation. 
A written examination as used in selecting civil service 
employees is not concerned primarily with determining 
general knowledge or range of information. A meas- 
urement of general knowledge and education has con- 
siderable importance in selecting applicants for some 
types of employment, particularly those requiring initia- 
tive and originality. In selecting employees for most 
lines of work it has only a limited significance and is not 
commonly applied. 

The written examination is of primary importance 
as a means of testing the special knowledge of an ap- 
plicant concerning the line of work in which he desires 
employment. A measurement of special or technical 
knowledge is desirable in selecting workers for many 
forms of civil service employment. In most cases a 
written test, if properly devised, can furnish such a 
measurement with a fair degree of accuracy. In some 
lines of employment involving a high degree of technical 
knowledge, such as accountancy, civil service commis- 
sions have failed as yet to devise an effective test of 
special knowledge. There is, however, no reason why 
such tests should not be developed. 

A written or question test, judging by the experience 
of the Committee on Classification of Personnel in the 
Army, may be effective not only in measuring special 

122 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

knowledge but also in measuring technical skill or 
ability. There exists a remarkably close relation be- 
tween knowledge of the tools and processes used in a 
given occupation and actual skill or ability in the occu- 
pation. In the experience of the Committee on Classi- 
fication, persons who possess occupational knowledge 
almost always possess occupational skill in about the 
same degree. The written examination, therefore, has 
an important part to play in selection. It is valuable 
both as a means of directly testing occupational knowl- 
edge and as a means of indirectly testing occupational 
skill or ability. 

In preparing a written examination designed to test 
special knowledge of the work done in a given position, 
the materials entering into the examination should be 
assembled on the basis of a study of the specific duties 
of the position in question. This principle is now gen- 
erally recognized by civil service commissions. Where 
printed specifications of positions have been prepared, 
the materials entering into the written test may be based 
in large part on the specifications. Where employment 
conditions have not been standardized, the examiner 
should base the written examination on a careful study 
of the duties of the position in question, cooperating in 
this study with the responsible administrative head. 
The analysis of the duties of a given position should be 
directed toward discovering all of the items of special 
or technical knowledge required in the successful execu- 
tion of the duties of the position. It should also be so 
conducted as to bring out the relative importance of the 
various items of special knowledge required. This 
analysis will thus determine the scope of the written 
examination, and the various subjects that should enter 
into it. It should also afford a basis for assigning the 

123 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

proper relative weight to each of the various subjects 
comprising the written examination. 

In the preparation of examinations, civil service 
commissions might well be guided by the methods de- 
veloped in the field of mental measurement for deter- 
mining the significance and effectiveness of different 
tests and test materials. A written examination is in- 
tended to separate the applicants who are qualified for 
a given line of employment from those who are 
unqualified. To what extent is a given test, or a given 
type of test, effective in achieving this result? Definite 
information on this subject would be a valuable means 
of control in the preparation of examinations. In order 
to answer this question it is obvious that the thing re- 
quired is a comparison of the standing of candidates 
in a given test with their standing in productiveness or 
efficiency after a period of employment. Such a com- 
parison would determine the extent to which those who 
stood highest in the test were rated highest in subsequent 
performance. 

A comparison between a series of ratings in a test 
and a series of ratings of the same group of persons in 
subsequent performance may be worked out according 
to a mathematical formula, and is known technically as 
a correlation.^ A low degree of correlation between a 
test and subsequent performance would show that the 
test was of little or no value as a means of selection. A 
high degree of correlation would mean that the same 
members of the group stood highest in the test and 
also in subsequent performance, and would be strong 
presumptive evidence of the value of the test as a means 
of separating applicants who are qualified for the line 

2 See Whipple, Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, 1910; also 
Link, Employment Psychology, 19 19. 

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RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

of employment in question from those who are un- 
qualified. 

The conditions of civil service employment would 
seem to make possible, to an unusual degree, a successful 
investigation of the value of tests by the method of 
correlation. The relative standings of examinees are 
given. In the case of many lines of work the relative 
standings of employees in actual performance could be 
determined with a fair amount of accuracy by a proper 
use of efficiency ratings. The correlation of these two 
series of standings could be made a valuable instrument 
of control in the preparation of civil service examina- 
tions. 

Assuming that a test had been devised which corre- 
lates well with a given occupation, in applying the test 
as a means of selection it is desirable to know the mean- 
ing of various scores or ranges of scores in the test in 
terms of the degree of occupational ability that they 
represent. This result can be accomplished by trying 
out the test on persons of known ability in the occupation 
in question. A fairly large number of such persons 
should be selected, and classified into at least two groups 
on the basis of their known ability, the range or extent 
of the classes depending, of course, upon the particular 
purpose in hand. If the test is now tried out on these 
groups of persons, the distribution of the scores will 
afford a means of interpreting the meaning of scores 
in the test in terms of occupational ability. 

This problem was given particular attention in devis- 
ing the trade tests used by the Committee on Classifica- 
tion of Personnel in the Army. After the tests had been 
assembled, they were tried out on four groups of 
persons, namely, experts, journeymen, apprentices in the 
trade in question, and novices or non-tradesmen. The 

125 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

method of interpreting the results so as to arrive at 
definite test standards has been briefly described as 
follows : ^ 

As each question is allowed four points, it becomes neces- 
sary to determine how many points shall indicate an expert, 
how many a journeyman, etc. Obviously the way to do this 
is to note how many points were secured by the known experts 
and the known journeymen when they were tested. Ordi- 
narily the expert scores higher than the journeyman and the 
journeyman higher than the apprentice. It frequently hap- 
pens that a few journeymen score as high as the lowest of the 
experts, and a few apprentices as high as the lowest of the 
journeymen. There are consequently over lappings between 
the classes. In calibrating, the object is to draw the dividing 
line between classes so that the overlappings shall be as small 
as possible. 

In the work of this committee it was found that, in 
order to achieve results of objective value, it was 
necessary to frame the so-called trade questions very 
carefully both as regards form and subject matter. The 
object was to secure questions that called for definite 
and standard answers, and that could be scored readily 
and with a high degree of accuracy. It was found ad- 
visable to use in the main only such questions as could 
be correctly answered with one, and only one, word, or 
at least with a sentence containing a unique keyword. 
Experience showed that questions thrown into this form 
were more effective than questions requiring a lengthy 
answer. 

An analysis of the Army trade tests shows that the 
questions used (in the so-called oral tests) fall into nine 
principal categories. The questions call for either an 
operation, a reason, a result, a purpose, a name, a defi- 
nition, a measurement, a location, or a shape. Fully 85 
per cent of the questions used in these tests call for a 

^Personnel, 1918, p. 28. 

126 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

name, such as the name of a tool, machine, machine part, 
or material. These questions occur in a variety of 
linguistic forms, such as: 

What is called? 

What is used to ? 

What is put on, fastened across, etc., 



What locks, takes, holds, etc., ? 

What is at, between, etc., ? 

What kind of ? 

What is made of? 

What part of ? 

What are the parts, colors, etc. ? 

Questions calling for the explanation of a process 
or operation and questions calling for a reason were 
found to be of doubtful value, because they are often 
ambiguous and often permit of a great variety of more 
or less completely correct answers. They are frequently 
unfair to the examinee, and are difficult to score accord- 
ing to a uniform standard. 

Some of the rules to be observed in preparing trade 
test questions have been stated by Max Watson as 
follows : * 

1. Do not use a catch question. For example: "What 
kind of a lubricant is used when turning cast iron?" The 
answer would be, "No lubricant." Such questions antagonize 
the tradesman. 

2. Do not use a question with a guess answer. For ex- 
ample : "On what side of a horse do you stand when you put 
on the harness?" The answer must be either "Right" or 
"Left" and, therefore, is of no value. Another form of guess 
question is the one with the "Yes" or "No" answer. 

3. Use trade language. The vocabulary of a tradesman is 
limited. Usually he does not understand such terms as "adja- 
cent to" or "significance of." 

* Watson, "Trade Tests," National Assembly of Civil Service Com- 
missions, 1919. 

127 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

« 

4. Do not use a bad practice question. A good mechanic 
should not be expected to know how to do things the wrong 
way, 

5. Be sure the meanings of all questions are definite. For 
example, such a question as this causes trouble : "How do you 
mix paint for a priming coat?" It can be answered this way: 
"Thin," "With plenty of oil," "In a bucket," "With a stick." 
They are all correct answers. 

6. Do not use a question that calls for a long explanation. 
No two experts will judge such an answer alike and the non- 
expert is utterly lost in trying to compare the answer he may 
receive with any answer which will be given. 

7. Be sure that the question involves only such knowledge 
as must come within the field of experience of a first-class 
tradesman. Nothing is more common than this statement: 
"A good man may not be able to answer the question, but he 
can do the work." This criticism is not justified if the ques- 
tions are properly selected. 

An example of a trade test, cited by Watson, is given 
below. It is a test for pattern makers (wood). 



QUESTION NO. I 

What wood, besides pine, is most commonly used for 

making small patterns? 

Mahogany. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 2 

With what is the surface of a pattern coated to keep it 

from getting damp and warping? 

Shellac. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 3 

How is a pattern made so that it can be drawn out of 

the sand easily? 

Draft. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 4 

What is the box called in which the sand for a mold is 

rammed up? 

Flask. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 5 

For what is the allowance made on a pattern maker's rule ? 
Shrinkage (contraction). Score 4. 

128 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

QUESTION NO. 6 

Q. What do you call the part of the pattern which is above 

the parting line on a two-part flask ? 
A. Cope. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 7 

Q. What tool do you use to lay out a pattern with a 3-foot 

radius ? 
A. Trammels. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 8 

Q. In making a large ring pattern, what are the separate 

parts called? 
A. Segments. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. Q 

Q. What do you call a mold that has a metal face to harden 

the casting? 
A. Chill. Score 4. 

QUESTION NO. 10 

Q. What do you put on a pattern to support the core in the 

proper position? 
A. Prints. Score 4. 

An expert pattern maker would have no difificulty in 
answering all of the above questions. For the purposes 
of civil service examining, it would be desirable to devise 
tests somewhat more difficult than the above, and to 
allow a considerable range in score to correspond with 
what would commonly be considered expert trade 
ability. In this way it will be possible to differentiate 
carefully within the group composed of the highest 
grade candidates. 

In selecting civil service employees the written ex- 
amination may be used not only as a test of actual 
knowledge, but also as a test of mental capacity or in- 
telligence. It is commonly recognized that a person 
who knows comparatively little about the duties of a 
given position when applying for employment may learn 
those duties, and in a short time surpass in effectiveness 
those who had a much greater degree of initial knowl- 
edge. In many lines of employment, the actual knowl- 

129 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

edge with which a worker enters upon the duties of a 
given position is of less importance than his ability to 
respond to new situations, to take hold of new duties 
readily; in short, his ability to learn. The ability to 
learn may be taken as a fair definition of intelligence. 

General intelligence is of questionable significance 
in selecting workers for most lines of employment. It 
is a trait desirable in employees who are required to dis- 
play a wide range of originality and initiative, and per- 
haps in those in whom the element of personality is 
particularly required. 

Special aptitude, or what may be called special in- 
telligence, is a trait which doubtless plays a considerable 
part in determining success in many occupations. Most 
lines of employment require for the highest degree of 
success some special form of ability or intelligence, 
although they do not require directly what may be called 
general intelligence. A test designed to measure this 
trait of special intelligence may well constitute a part 
of the written examination used in selecting civil service 
employees for a considerable number of important oc- 
cupations. 

The intelligence test should be based on a careful 
analysis of the kind of work in question, with a view 
to discovering the special forms of mental ability re- 
quired. It should be carefully standardized, so that 
scores made on the test may be correctly interpreted in 
terms of the ability that they represent. The test must 
be scored with regard to both speed and accuracy. In 
order to give results of objective value, the intelligence 
test must be administered under carefully standardized 
conditions. 

Some civil service commissions have made beginnings 
in the use of intelligence tests in examining ajiplicants 

130 



i 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

for certain types of employment. Chief Examiner 
J. C. Whitman of CaHfornia has prepared a model 
examination for clerks (salary range $75 to $100), 
several parts of which are designed to test intelligence 
rather than actual knowledge. After analyzing the 
mental qualifications required for the occupation of 
clerk, Examiner Whitman concludes that persons are 
qualified for this occupation if they are 

1. Accurate enough in their mental operations to be able 
to perform arithmetical computations without error. 

2. Analytical^ and logical enough to solve mathematical 
problems involving analysis and reasoning. 

3. Mentally alert enough to make required classifications 
from a complex list of statistical data. 

4. Orderly enough in their way of thinking to be able to 
arrange given data in a prescribed, systematic and or- 
derly fashion, 

5. Possessed of sufficient knowledge and education to write 
the English language reasonably well and spell cor- 
rectly. 

On the basis of this analysis, Examiner Whitman 
has prepared an examination that contains, in addition 
to tests of spelling and letter writing, an easy and a 
difficult arithmetic test, a tabulation test, and an alpha- 
betical arrangement test. The two tests last named are 
obviously tests of intelligence. The arithmetic tests are 
also, in large part, tests of intelligence. 

In private employment, tests of intelligence are 
beginning to be introduced as a means of selection. An 
interesting discussion of work in this field has been 
written by Dr. Henry C. Link. In employing clerical 
workers, Dr. Link found the so-called "directions" test 
a useful means of selection. An example of a "direc- 
tions" test is reproduced below : ^ 

^Link, op. cit.j p. 410. The formula used for scoring the above 
test is explained on pp. 399-401. 

131 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Instructions : "I am going to give you a number of direc- 
tions, so listen very carefully and do exactly what I tell you to. 
For instance, I might ask you to fold this sheet of paper twice 
and then write your name near the top, like this [examiner 
demonstrates]. Be sure to listen carefully each time and as 
soon as I stop talking do exactly what I say. Are you 
ready?" The examiner then proceeds to give the following 
series of directions which he has carefully memorized before- 
hand. Each direction is to be given once only. 

1. Draw a line three times as long as this one (showing a 
line I inch long). 

2. Find the telephone number of in the telephone 

directory and show it to me. 

3. What time will it be in 20 minutes? 

4. Find the address of in the telephone directory 

and write it on this envelope. 

5. Count the cards in this pile and write the number at 
the top of this paper. 

6. Put a cross in the lower right hand corner of this paper 
and fold it so the cross will be inside. 

7. Get a book on the second shelf of the cupboard and 
open to page 98. 

8. Separate these clips so that there will be ten in one box, 
three in another, seven in the third and fourteen in the 
fourth. 

9. Write the date at the top of this paper, your father's 
name in the center, and your address at the bottom of 
the other side. 

10, (Examiner places a 25-cent piece and a 5-cent piece be- 
fore the subject and a 25-cent piece and lo-cent piece be- 
fore himself. ) Out of the money in front of you, pay me 
20 cents, using my money for change. 

In employing stenographers, Dr. Link found the 
so-called "completion" test a useful aid in selection. An 
example of a "completion" test is given below.® 

Instructions : "On each dotted line write the word which 
makes the best meaning. For instance [reading first sentence 
and pointing out the blank with a pencil], 'The kind lady gave 

^ Ibid., p. 411. The formula used for scoring the above test is ex- 
plained on pp. 399-401. 

132 » 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

the poor man a dollar.' Put only one word in every blank. 
Do this quickly and carefully. All right? Start." Allow 
subject 240 seconds. . . , 

1. The kind lady the poor man a dollar. 

2. The plays her dolls all day. 

3. Boys and soon become and women. 

4. The poor baby as if it were sick. 

5. The rises the morning and at 

night. 

6. The poor little has nothing to ; 

he is hungry. 

7. The boy who hard do well. 

8. Men more to do heavy work 

women. 

9. It is a task to be kind to every beggar 

for money. 

10. It is very to become acquainted 

persons who timid. 

11. To many things ever finishing any of 

them a habit. 

12. One's real appears often in his 

than in his speech. 

13. The knowledge of use fire is of 

important things known by but un- 
known animals. 

14. that are to one by an friend 

should be pardoned readily than injuries done 

by one is not angry. 

15. To friends is always the it takes. 

The Practical Examination. A test of actual perform- 
ance in the work in question is frequently used as a 
factor in civil service examinations. The practical test 
has a v^ide range of usefulness. It has been success- 
fully applied in testing skilled tradesmen, stenographers, 
typists, comptometrists, inspectors of various types, 
engineers, etc. 

The fundamental technique involved in devising and 
conducting performance tests is much the same as that 
discussed above in connection v^ith written tests. In 

133 i 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

order to be effective, the practical test must be so con- 
structed as to cover the essential points of the occupa- 
tion in question. Furthermore, the test must be of such 
a nature that the product or performance of the candi- 
date may be marked or scored according to definite 
standards. The standards used in gauging the work of 
the candidate should be based on a careful study of 
scores made in the past by persons of known occupa- 
tional ability. The performance test may be so devised 
as to consist of a series of steps or operations. A definite 
time required for the completion of the test should be 
set as a standard. The performance of a candidate in 
the test may then be scored on the basis of the time 
consumed, and on success or failure in meeting stand- 
ards set for the several operations composing the test. 

In certain lines of employment, the performance test 
is by far the most effective means of selection. For 
example, in choosing an automobile truck driver the 
result of a well devised practical test would be in itself 
nearly conclusive. And in selecting employees for many 
lines of work the practical test should be given consid- 
erable weight. Wherever possible, it should be con- 
sidered in the selection of clerical workers and skilled 
tradesmen. 

This test has certain practical disadvantages. It 
frequently involves considerable expense for material 
and equipment. It requires a longer time to give than 
a corresponding written or oral examination. It must 
be administered under the direct supervision of an 
examiner who is an expert in the trade in question. This 
is not necessarily true of a written examination, which 
may be administered by a person not an expert in the 
occupation in question. Finally, a performance test 
involving the use of any considerable amount of ma- 

134 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

terial is difficult to administer in a civil service jurisdic- 
tion covering a large territory. The test cannot be taken 
to the applicants, and if the applicants are required to 
assemble at one point, the number of applicants appear- 
ing for examination will be cut down in an undesirable 
way. A performance test involving only a small amount 
of material, such as a test for typist or stenographers, 
if necessary, may be given at a number of different 
points throughout a large jurisdiction. 
Rating of Experience. The rating of experience is a 
factor in most civil service examinations. The weight 
assigned to this factor must vary, of course, with the 
line of work in question. In selecting workers for some 
lines of employment, the rating of experience plays little 
or no part, while in selecting workers for other occupa- 
tions it may rightly be considered of primary im- 
portance. 

Civil service commissions have failed to reach a 
common understanding concerning the meaning of the 
term "experience." "In one instance 'experience' means 
experience only; in another it means experience and 
education; in another it means experience, education, 
and personality; in another it may mean experience, 
training, personality, and fitness involving the physical 
condition." ^ At the outset, therefore, a definition is 
necessary. 

The word "experience" as used in this connection 
should denote ( i ) experience in the occupation in ques- 
tion, (2) experience in related occupations, and (3) 
vocational education closely related to the occupation in 
question. The term as thus defined denotes two forms 
of experience, and also what would be commonly called 
vocational training or education. The term "experi- 

"^ Messick, op. cit., p. . 

135 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION ! 

ence" should not include schooling or education that 
does not bear directly on the occupation in question. 

A standard of experience may be set as a minimum 
qualifying condition of admission to a civil service ex- 
amination. In this case, a candidate who does not 
possess the minimum of experience is not admitted to 
the examination, whatever his other qualifications may 
be. Again, a certain standard of experience may be set 
as desirable in a given line and grade of employment. 
In this case, a candidate is admitted to the examination 
whether or not he has had the experience represented by 
the standard, and his experience is rated along with 
other factors of the examination. A candidate who 
falls short in respect to experience may nevertheless be 
considered eligible for employment if he possesses 
qualifications that compensate for the lack of experi- 
ence ; and a candidate who had had extensive experience 
in the line of work in question is given a corresponding 
experience rating. 

In order to reach results of objective value, a formal 
method of estimating the experience of candidates 
should be used. When a standard of experience has 
been set as a minimum requirement, it is sometimes 
difficult to tell whether a candidate meets this require- 
ment. When a standard of experience has been set as 
a measure of possible credit, it is sometimes a difficult 
matter to tell just what amount of credit should be al- 
lowed the candidate. In both these cases, a rating scale, 
or rating key, is useful as a means of estimating the 
value of a candidate's experience. 

In devising a rating scale for use in connection with 
a standard experience minimum, the chief problem con- 
sists in determining the precise forms of occupational 
experience or education that may be considered sub- 

136 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

stantially equivalent to the form specified in the 
standard. The various forms and lengths of experience 
substantially equivalent to the standard should be set out 
in detail, so as to serve as a guide in estimating the 
experience of the individual applicant. 

The task of devising a rating scale for use where 
experience is counted as a positive factor in the exami- 
nation is somewhat more complicated. The first item 
to be considered is experience in the occupation directly 
in question. A numerical value should be assigned to 
a length of experience in this occupation which is judged 
to be sufficient to make a man a journeyman or an all- 
round worker. Numerical values should then be as- 
signed to parts of this period of experience, and also 
to terms of experience extending beyond this period. 
A maximum value should be set beyond which no credit 
is given for additional experience. 

The second item to consider consists of experience in 
related occupations. In some instances the number of 
these related occupations is not great, while in others 
it is considerable. The related occupations should be 
ranked according to the degree in which they served as 
preparation for the duties of the position in question. 
Numerical values may then be assigned to the different 
lengths of service in these occupations, the maximum 
values decreasing as the occupations become less im- 
portant as preparation for the duties of the position in 
question. 

The third item to consider in devising a scale for 
rating experience is vocational training or education. 
The various forms and courses of training should be 
ranked in terms of their value as preparation for the 
duties of the position under consideration. Numerical 
values should then be assigned to lengths of training 

137 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

in the several courses, according to the method outhned 
above. 

As a means of determining the total experience 
rating, a method should be adopted for combining the 
three component ratings. It would seem that they 
should not be combined merely by addition. Experience 
in a related occupation, if it occurs alone or only in com- 
bination with special education, should be allowed a 
greater weight than if it occurs in combination with a 
considerable length of experience in the occupation 
directly in question. A candidate who has had expe- 
rience in a related occupation, but has not had experience 
in the occupation directly in question, should be given a 
greater degree of credit for experience in the related 
occupation than would be given to another applicant 
who had had this experience in addition to direct ex- 
perience in the occupation under consideration. A 
candidate who is given credit for a considerable length 
of experience in the occupation in question should not 
be allowed much additional credit for related experience 
or vocational training. 

In civil service practice the rating of experience is 
based in the first instance on information submitted by 
the candidate on the application form. This informa- 
tion is usually subjected to investigation. The investi- 
gation should be carried out in a thorough manner, and 
any applicant who is found to have misrepresented his 
experience or training should be disqualified from the 
examination in question and from future examinations 
as at least the minimum penalty. 

In rating the experience of candidates, an average 
should be taken of ratings formulated by at least two 
examiners working independently. By using a rating 
key or scale of the type discussed above, examiners 

138 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

should be able to formulate reasonably objective and 
uniform ratings of experience. 

The Rating of Education. A standard of education or 
schooling is frequently adhered to as a qualifying con- 
dition of employment. For clerical positions a common 
school education is usually regarded as a minimum re- 
quirement. For technical and professional positions a 
college degree is usually regarded as a qualifying con- 
dition. These requirements, of course, should be subject 
to exceptions. Provision should always be made for 
accepting the equivalent of a specified standard of 
education. 

In selecting workers for the great bulk of civil 
service positions education or schooling as such should 
be considered only as a qualifying condition. Special 
or vocational education may be given a positive credit, 
but it should be rated along with experience. In some 
cases length of schooling throws light on the stability 
and other moral characteristics of the candidate, and 
may properly be taken into consideration in the rating 
of personality. But mere length of schooling is an 
unreliable index of the intellectual equipment and 
effectiveness of an applicant. For the most part edu- 
cation should be gauged not directly in terms of length, 
but indirectly in terms of the work done by the candidate 
in properly devised written and practical tests. 
The Physical Examination. A physical examination is 
usually given to applicants for public employment. This 
examination should be based on carefully determined 
medical or physical standards. The appropriate physical 
standards differ widely throughout the range of occu- 
pations involved in a large system of public employment. 
These standards fall into a few main groups, determined 
by the physical requirements of the various occupations. 

139 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 
The Civil Service Commission of the City of New 
York recognizes a distinct physical standard for each 
of the following groups of positions: 

_ Positions requiring the least degree of physical ability and 
mvo ving no physical risk. Examples : Clerical and steno- 
graphic positions. 

Positions requiring a moderate degree of physical ability 
such as would enable the incumbent to perform, continuous 
outdoor labor, walk long distances, or carry small loads, such 
as field equipment. Examples : Positions in the inspectional 
service. 

Positions requiring a high degree of physical ability, such 
as would enable the incumbent not only to perform severe 
manual labor, but to care for himself in accidents, such as 
the tipping of a scaffold or a ladder. Examples : Blacksmith, 
boiler-maker. 

Positions in the police and fire service. 

The physical standard for each of the above groups 
includes a statement of the principal disqualifying 
defects, of additional defects which disqualify when 
disabling, and of requirements concerning vision, hear- 
ing, strength and flexibility, and blood pressure. 

For most positions the physical standard is merely 
a qualifying condition. If the applicant does not meet 
the requirement, he is disqualified, but if he does meet 
it, his general standing is not affected. This is true of 
the physical requirements set for positions in the first 
three groups named above. 

The physical standard set for positions in the police 
and fire service is more than a qualifying condition. It 
constitutes a scale of possible positive credit. The 
physical examination in this case includes, in addition 
to the usual medical tests, various tests of strength and 
agility that are rated in much the same way that prac- 
tical tests are rated in other occupations. This general 

140 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

method of defining^ and classifying physical standards, 
and of conducting corresponding tests is now in use by 
most civil service commissions throughout the country. 

In recruiting unskilled laborers a physical standard 
should be maintained. The standard in this case is, of 
course, only a qualifying condition of employment. In- 
asmuch as this is the only standard that can well be 
enforced in recruiting unskilled laborers, it should be 
adhered to as strictly as possible. 
The Oral Examination. An oral examination or inter- 
view is a factor in many civil service examinations, 
particularly in those conducted by state and local com- 
missions. 

In order to operate as an effective and equitable 
means of selection, the oral test must be conducted 
under conditions that insure that the judgment of the 
examiners is free from prejudice. An interview implies, 
of course, that the identity of the candidate is revealed, 
which is not true of the written examination as usually 
conducted. In the early days of civil service adminis- 
tration, the oral test was regarded with considerable 
distrust, as it was generally felt that it afforded little 
assurance that applicants of different political affiliation 
would be treated on an impartial basis. At the present 
time, however, this objection to the oral test does not 
apply to any considerable extent. We may assume that 
political prejudice has been eliminated from the conduct 
of the oral examination. But assuming this, there re- 
main various common forms of human prejudice and 
fallibility that are extremely difficult to eliminate from 
an employment interview, whether conducted in con- 
nection with public or private employment. Under the 
most favorable circumstances, an interview has only a 
limited value, and perhaps a more limited one than is 

141 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

commonly supposed, as a means of selecting suitable 
employees. 

As used by civil service commissions, the oral test 
assumes several forms, and serves several distinct pur- 
poses. Some commissions use an oral test as a means 
of determining the applicant's special knowledge con- 
cerning a given trade or occupation. If the oral test is 
conducted in an unsystematic manner, it is of less value 
in this connection than an appropriate written or 
practical test. But the oral test may be conducted in a 
systematic way and along lines substantially the same 
as those considered above in discussing the written 
examination. Thus, it may include standardized ques- 
tions of the type used in the Army trade tests. If the 
interview is conducted along these lines, it has consid- 
erable value as a test of special knowledge and ability. 
However, the oral test as used by civil service commis- 
sions is not designed, as a general rule, for the purpose 
of determining the special knowledge of the applicant. 

Some civil service commissions use the interview as 
a means of determining a proper experience rating. But 
the interview is not ordinarily regarded as the principal 
source of the data that should serve as the basis of the 
experience rating of a candidate. 

The oral test or interview is generally regarded as 
concerned chiefly with the determination of personal 
qualifications. The interview may indeed throw light on 
the knowledge and experience of the candidate. But the 
rating of knowledge should be made mainly by means of 
a written test (or a formal oral test), and the rating of 
experience should be based mainly on data derived from 
other sources than the interview, which should be re- 
garded mainly as an opportunity to assess the personality 
or personal qualities of the applicant. 

142 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

Forrest Wheeler, Secretary and Chief Examiner of 
the MinneapoHs Civil Service Commission, in discussing 
methods of recruiting probation officers, makes the 
following statement : ^ 

The oral examination was conducted on the basis of hypo- 
thetical cases which would be a test of the knowledge and 
activity of the intellect, and was used to further verify and 
elaborate the experience of the applicant without affecting the 
rating on the experience paper, and third, it was indirectly 
used to determine the desirability of the person from the stand- 
point of personality. In this examination it was felt that it 
was important that the probation officer have such a personality 
and disposition that he could readily win the confidence of 
the people with whom he was working. This was considered 
as a personal attribute and not necessarily dependent upon 
past experience or technical knowledge of the subject. 

Taking the oral test to be concerned primarily with 
the determination of personal qualities, the extent to 
which this test is used, and the weight assigned to it, 
will depend upon the importance of personal qualities 
as a condition of success in various lines of employment. 
Personal and moral qualities are in some sense the 
necessary foundation of success in any occupation. But 
exceptional personal qualities are not needed for success 
in many lines of employment. Thus, in the skilled trades 
and in clerical pursuits they are not necessary conditions 
of success. On the other hand, in those phases of public 
work that involve administration, supervision, inspec- 
tion, police protection, social service, etc., outstanding 
personal qualifications are often a primary condition 
of successful employment. The oral test or interview is 
mainly useful in making a selection of workers for this 
group of occupations. 

To develop an objective method of rating the per- 

8 Quoted by H. N. Saxton, National Assembly of Civil Service 
Commissions, 1919. 

143 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

sonal qualities of applicants for employment is difficult 
if not impossible. It would be necessary to determine 
the particular personal qualities needed for success in 
the various lines of employment. To do this with 
precision is extremely difficult. In the second place it 
would be necessary to devise a method by which the 
personal qualities of individual applicants could be ob- 
jectively measured on a basis of a comparatively brief 
interview. No such method has yet been devised. 

It is possible, however, to introduce a certain degree 
of objectivity into the rating procedure used in the oral 
examination. The personal qualities needed in given 
occupations may be determined and defined with some 
degree of accuracy. Moreover, methods of assessing 
the personal qualities of candidates may be followed 
which make possible a considerable improvement over 
the results obtained by the ordinary methods of personal 
impression and "snap" judgment. 

A general list of personal attributes that has been 
used in a large educational institution as a basis for 
rating personality, is reproduced below : ® 

1. Mental caliber, intelligence, "head." 

2. Maturity, common sense, judgment, tact. 

3. Earnestness, industry, seriousness of purpose. 

4. Reliability, dependability, deportment, cooperation. 

5. Alertness, resourcefulness, initiative, "on the job." 

6. "Push," energy, vigor, vim, "pep." 

7. Leadership, executive ability, efficiency. 

8. Accuracy, neatness, skill, dexterity. 

9. Address, manner, appearance. 

10. General education, culture, refinement. 

11. Capacity for growth. 

12. Fitness for line of work chosen. 

This is a fairly comprehensive list of personal 
attributes. On the basis of some such list as the above, 

^ Quoted by Link, op. cit., p. 334. 

144 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

the particular personal qualities required for success 
in different forms of public employment should be de- 
cided upon and defined as accurately as possible. 

The method used in assessing the personal qualities 
of an applicant for employment should involve a com- 
parison of the applicant in respect to these qualities with 
other persons who are taken as standards. The object 
is not to determine whether the candidate simply has or 
has not a given characteristic, but to determine the 
degree in which the candidate possesses the character- 
istic in question. To do this the population as a whole, 
or the personnel of a given organization, may be divided 
into groups, according to the degree in which it pos- 
sesses a given personal characteristic, and these groups 
may be taken as standards of comparison. Thus, the 
employees of a given department may be grouped in 
respect to a certain personal quality as exceptionally 
poor, noticeably poor, average, noticeably good, and 
exceptionally good. These persons as thus grouped may 
serve as standards of comparison. The candidate may 
then be classified in respect to the characteristic in 
question by comparing him with these standards. If 
the groups or classes are numbered, a numerical value 
may be assigned to the standing of the candidate in re- 
spect to the characteristic in question. A summation 
of the degrees in which a candidate possesses various 
personal qualities required for success in the occupation 
in which he seeks employment will yield a numerical 
expression of the rating of the personal qualities of the 
candidate. 

In considering the personal qualities of employees 
or of applicants for employment it is well to avoid the 
fallacy of assuming that these qualities are necessarily 
fixed and absolute. In fact, they frequently are not fixed 

145 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

and absolute, and depend largely on the circumstances 
under which they are manifested. 

One of the great errors which employment managers, fore- 
men, superintendents, and all other people, including teachers, 
ministers, and religious workers fall into, is the belief that 
the moral qualities are absolute qualities. They believe that 
if a man is lazy, he is lazy. If he is industrious, he is indus- 
trious. If he is cheerful, he is cheerful. If he is disloyal, he 
is disloyal. If he is ambitious, he is ambitious. If he is good, 
he is good. And if he is bad, he is bad. In other words, they 
labor under the belief that the moral qualities are constant 
qualities which are an inseparable part of a human being as 
scales, fur, and hide are an inseparable feature of the fish, 
the dog, and the elephant; and further, that no matter where 
people are and what they are doing, their moral qualities are 
an invariable part of their nature. Nothing could be farther 
from the truth. The moral qualities are not absolute.^*' 

It must be admitted that moral and personal char- 
acteristics are sometimes deeply rooted features of per- 
sonality, and to all intents and purposes ineradicable and 
absolute. But in many cases these characteristics do not 
inhere absolutely in employees, but are relative to the 
manifold conditions of employment. 
Advertising Civil Service Examinations. In order to be 
effective as a means of recruiting, a civil service ex- 
amination should be conducted well in advance of the 
time at which new employees are actually needed in the 
service. It should be planned in advance of the time at 
which it is to be held, and in response to the needs of 
the service as revealed by a study of the number of 
eligibles available and of the fluctuating needs of the 
various departments. In order to attract well qualified 
candidates in large numbers, the examination must be 
properly advertised. 

Civil service laws usually provide in general terms 

^° Ibid., p. 202. 

146 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

for the advertising of examinations. Thus, the civil 
service act of New Jersey provides that notice of ex- 
amination "must be given in such manner that all per- 
sons interested in such examinations may have an 
opportunity of learning of the time, place, and condi- 
tions of such examinations." Such a provision is 
designed to insure that well qualified persons shall be 
attracted to civil service examinations and also to afford 
an equal opportunity to all members of the community 
to compete for public employment. 

Most civil service commissions issue an official 
bulletin containing announcements of examinations. In 
the large jurisdictions, commissions make use of addi- 
tional means of publicity: the daily newspapers, trade 
and professional publications, civil service papers, mail- 
ing lists, and bulletin boards. 

Commissions in the larger jurisdictions insert in the 
daily newspapers announcements of the more important 
examinations. Some of the daily papers give a consid- 
erable amount of free publicity by maintaining a civil 
service news department. Commissions advertise ex- 
aminations of skilled and technical workers in appro- 
priate trade and professional publications. They 
also advertise largely in papers devoted directly to the 
interests of civil service employees, where such papers 
are available. These publications reach a large number 
of public employees and other persons interested in 
civil service matters and afford very valuable channels 
of publicity. Commissions also mail announcements of 
examinations to selected lists of organizations and in- 
stitutions, such as clubs, settlement houses, societies, 
civic organizations, public schools, colleges, labor 
unions, etc. Notices of examinations are also posted 
on bulletin boards in railway stations, post offices, public 

147 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

libraries, etc. These notices are sometimes prepared in 
the form of attractive posters. 

Some of the larger commissions issue annually a 
manual of civil service examinations, and at more fre- 
quent intervals extensive circulars. The Wisconsin 
Civil Service Commission issues a biennial circular that 
contains explicit information concerning the following 
matters: application; signatures of candidates; change 
of address; subjects and weights of examinations; ex- 
perience papers; examination numbers; what the can- 
didates are to bring to the examination room; fair 
treatment guaranteed all candidates; notice of standing 
to competitors ; eligible lists ; recommendations ; political 
and religious affiliations; correspondence; inquiries; 
and specimen of questions. 

The matter used in advertising civil service exami- 
nations should follow a fairly well defined outline. It 
should contain the standard title of the position to be 
filled; a statement of the duties involved in the position; 
a statement of the rate of compensation and of the op- 
portunities for advancement; a statement of the scope 
and factors of the examination; a statement of qualify- 
ing conditions; and a statement of the time and place 
of the examination, and of the time for filing applica- 
tions. This information should be set out in a form 
intelligible to one entirely unfamiliar with civil service 
practice and regulations. 

Certification and Appointment. The civil service com- 
mission serves as an examining board, but does not 
actually appoint public employees. It prepares lists of 
eligible candidates, and in response to requisitions certi- 
fies those candidates to appointing officials. The heads 
of the various departments and bureaus actually hire 
or appoint public employees. 

148 



RECRUITING AND SELECTION 

The commission usually certifies three eligible can- 
didates for each vacancy. The administrative head then 
appoints one of these three candidates. This practice of 
appointing one out of three eligible candidates is well 
justified. The rule of "one in three" is a necessary 
means of securing a proper location of responsibility. 
While it insures the accomplishment of the main objects 
of the merit system, it allows, at the same time, a certain 
degree of liberty to the administrative head in the se- 
lection of his subordinates. Where this rule is not 
followed, a department head cannot be held definitely 
responsible for the work accomplished under his direc- 
tion. If employees are chosen directly in response to 
recommendations of the civil service commission, a de- 
partment head always has a legitimate excuse for waste 
and ineiTectiveness in the conduct of the business of his 
department. If the department head is allowed to 
choose one out of three eligible candidates, he becomes 
in large measure responsible for the choice of his sub- 
ordinate force — in as large a measure perhaps as is 
feasible in public employment — and responsible in a 
corresponding degree for the effectiveness with which 
the work in his department is accomplished. 

The practice of allowing the administrative head to 
select one of three eligible candidates is desirable in the 
interest of an effective selection of employees. No 
method of examination is infallible. No method of 
examination yields correct results in all cases. At 
the same time the judgment of the administrative 
head is not infallible. It is highly probable that, so far 
as the technical fitness of. an applicant is concerned, the 
judgment of the administrative head is less reliable than 
the recommendation of the civil service commission, 
based dn the results of proper examining procedure. 

149 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

But the judgment of the administrative head should be 
allowed to have decisive weight in one particular, 
namely, as regards the personal qualifications of the 
applicant. The judgment of the administrative head is 
not necessarily better in this respect, but for obvious 
reasons it should have a determining influence. The 
candidate must not only be fitted for a certain line of 
work, but he must also possess personal qualities that 
will enable him to work effectively and harmoniously in 
a given organization. The administrative head, under 
certain restrictions, should be the judge of whether the 
candidate possesses those qualities. The rule of "one in 
three" usually enables him to select with due regard to 
the factor of personal qualifications. 

Administrative heads appoint public employees for a 
period of probation, usually six months, before making 
a final appointment. The period of probation is in- 
tended to offer an opportunity for observation of the 
actual work of new employees, and thus to afford a 
basis for final decision as to their fitness for public em- 
ployment. In practice the period of approval or proba- 
tion is generally treated in a perfunctory manner, and 
final appointment follows more or less automatically. 
This practice is to be deplored. The period of probation 
should be used as an opportunity to make a real and use- 
ful observation of the work of new employees. It 
should be used as an opportunity to correct mistakes of 
examining procedure and to refuse final appointment to 
unqualified employees. It should also serve as an oppor- 
tunity to adjust new employees to their work, and, wher- 
ever a sufiicient range of occupations exists, to fit new 
employees to the particular assignment within the line 
and grade of employment in question for which they 
show themselves to be best qualified. 

ISO 



CHAPTER VII 
TRAINING 

In private enterprise, the instruction and training of 
employees, after they have been hired, is recognized as 
an important part of personnel administration. In the 
civil service the training of employees has been given 
comparatively little attention. In order to improve the 
efficiency and morale of the civil service, the systematic 
training of the men and women in the service must be 
recognized as an important employment function. But 
before discussing this question of the training of em- 
ployees already in the service, it will be well to consider 
the education and training of men and women for 
original entrance to the public service. 
Training for Entrance to Public Employment. Civil 
service commissions are not primarily responsible for 
the training of men and women for admission to the 
civil service. The educational agencies of the country 
— the public schools, the colleges and universities, and 
the various private educational establishments — are 
primarily responsible for this training. However, 
civil service commissions have a certain duty in this con- 
nection. In order to measure up fully to their oppor- 
tunities, they should cooperate with the educational 
agencies of the country and endeavor to direct voca- 
tional education in such a way as to make it productive 
of men and women who are fitted in a high degree for 
effective service in government employment. 

Many civil service employees do not require any con- 

151 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

siderable degree of vocational training as a preliminary 
to their entrance to public employment, or at least do not 
need preliminary training of a kind in any important 
sense peculiar to the requirements of public employment. 
For example, a stenographer in a government depart- 
ment does not need training essentially different from 
that of a stenographer in a private business concern. A 
machinist who desires work in a government arsenal 
does not need preliminary training different from what 
he would need in private industry. A chemist who de- 
sires work in a city health department often does not 
need preliminary training different from what he would 
need in many lines of industrial enterprise. Many 
workers in the government service need preliminary 
training, but they need only such training as they would 
need in similar work in private employment. The train- 
ing of these workers presents, therefore, no peculiar 
problem to those interested in the improvement of the 
civil service personnel. 

But some civil service employees, usually those who 
occupy the higher positions, might well have extensive 
preliminary training of a kind peculiar to the require- 
ments of public employment. For example, some of the 
scientific and technical workers in government depart- 
ments may well have special preliminary training of a 
unique character. 

Training designed to fit workers specially for the 
public health service is now offered at the Harvard 
Medical School. Special training for engineering em- 
ployees in the public service is offered at Columbia 
University, Pratt Institute, and the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology. Similar technical training is 
offered in other institutions throughout the country. 
Speciartraining for the work of public administration 

152 



TRAINING 

in a more general sense is now offered at the state uni- 
versities of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, and 
at other universities. Training for the consular service 
is offered at the University of Virginia. Training in 
public administration, with special reference to the 
problems of state and city government, has been given 
since 1912 by the Training School for Public Service of 
the Bureau of Municipal Research in New York City, 
now the National Institute of Public Administration. 

The training in public administration given in these 
schools includes subjects such as administrative law, 
government accounting, taxation, finance and budget- 
making, scientific management, public administration, 
public works management, statistics and graphic 
presentation, preparation of reports, personnel problem 
in government, problem of departmental organization, 
city planning, etc. 

These facilities might be enlarged by the establish- 
ment of special schools devoted to the single object of 
preparing men and women for admission to public em- 
ployment. The more immediately feasible way of ex- 
tending facilities for training for the public service, 
however, would seem to lie in the establishment of the 
requisite training courses in existing schools and uni- 
versities. 

Special training for the public service should be in 
the highest possible degree practical. It should avoid 
the mistake of merely providing students with ''book 
learning." Such training will naturally include a 
certain amount of theoretical study, but it should also 
include practical contact with the processes of govern- 
ment administration, comparable to the shop work done 
by engineering students or clinical work done by stu- 
dents of medicine. To a limited extent suitable arrange- 

153 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

ments could be made between educational agencies and 
our various governments, whereby advanced students 
might participate in, or at least observe at close range, 
the technical and administrative work of government 
departments. The practical experience gained by 
students in actual work in government departments 
should form an integral part of their special training 
for the public service, and should be given definite 
academic credit. 

To put training for the public service on a practical 
basis, a close contact should also be established between 
the educational agencies offering this training and the 
various civil service commissions responsible for re- 
cruiting government employees. At the present time, 
such contact is practically non-existent. There is very 
little of the cooperation between schools and govern- 
ment recruiting agencies that is needed to insure that 
the training offered in the schools is calculated to fit 
young men for the actual requirements of the public 
service, and to assure those who have completed courses 
of special training that they will find places in govern- 
ment employment. To remedy this situation, civil ser- 
vice commissions should furnish the proper educational 
agencies with information concerning the qualifications 
and training needed for the scientific and administrative 
positions under their control, and also with definite in- 
formation concerning the present and probable future 
demands for workers to fill these positions. If this plan 
is followed, the heads of educational agencies will be in 
a position to give intelligent vocational guidance to 
those who wish to take training for admission to public 
employment. Civil service commissions, moreover, 
should do everything properly within their power to 
facilitate the placing of well trained and well qualified 

154 



TRAINING 

persons in public employment. They cannot guarantee 
positions to graduates of educational institutions, but 
they should depart from any attitude of indifference and 
should facilitate, in every legitimate way, the transition 
from training for the public service to actual employ- 
ment in public service. In doing this, it goes without 
saying that they should not jeopardize the opportunity 
of qualified persons who have not had special academic 
training. 

A system of training for the public service takes for 
granted that the public service itself is genuinely at- 
tractive. It is obvious that ambitious and capable 
young men, who face the need of earning a livelihood, 
will not as a general rule enter upon a course of training 
unless it leads with reasonable certainty to a satisfactory 
career, particularly as respects the basic item of compen- 
sation. A system of training lacks an effective reason 
for existence unless it leads to a genuinely attractive 
vocation. The public service at the present moment 
falls short in several important respects of being an 
attractive calling. A system of training for the public 
service will be established on a large scale and will 
operate properly and effectively only on condition that 
the public service itself be made genuinely attractive. 
Training for Increased Usefulness in Public Employment. 
In progressive private establishments, "following-up" 
the worker after he has been hired is recognized as an 
important employment function. This involves induct- 
ing the worker into his new employment, the shifting of 
old employees to positions in which they will be most 
effective, and, in general, the adaptation of the personnel 
to the varied and changing requirements of the establish- 
ment in question. The basic idea back of such work is 
that it pays in dollars and cents to retain and develop 

155 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

the personnel of an establishment rather than to re- 
plenish it continually by a stream of new and inexpe- 
rienced employees. 

The follow-up function of the employment bureau resolves 
itself into the difficult one of vocational guidance. The esprit 
de corps of the entire plant depends on the employment mana- 
ger's skill in directing the promotion of the employee as rapidly 
and no more rapidly than his abihty warrants; in adjusting 
causes of difference between workers and foremen; in elimi- 
nating general causes of dissatisfaction; and in placing a "mis- 
fit" or failure where he will "make good." It is this function 
which is the most important, least developed, and most inter- 
esting part of the work of a centralized employment bureau.^ 

Follow-up work includes as a major function the in- 
struction and training of employees. In private enter- 
prise the training of employees is now given a large 
amount of attention. It is carried on extensively in so- 
called corporation schools of three fairly distinct types; 
namely, vestibule schools, apprenticeship schools, and 
vocational or training schools. The vestibule school, as 
the name indicates, is an entry way through which em- 
ployees pass for several weeks' training immediately 
after their employment. The apprenticeship school is 
one in which boys or young men are given thorough 
training in a trade, extending over a period as long as 
three or four years. The so-called vocational or train- 
ing school usually offers a fairly wide range of subjects, 
and is intended to fit employees for greater usefulness 
and advancement within the plant or office in question. 
The instruction usually occupies from three to nine 
hours a week and is usually given after working hours, 
in the late afternoon or evening. 

To a very limited extent the training of employees 

^ "Hiring and Firing," Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 
Industrial Service Bureau Bulletin No. i, p. 39. 

156 



TRAINING 

has been undertaken in civil service employment. This 
training has usually been undertaken on an independent 
basis by the various government departments concerned. 
In the national service, the Bureau of Engraving and 
Printing has a four-year course for apprentices. The 
Washington Navy Yard also has a course for appren- 
tices. The Bureau of Internal Revenue conducts a 
course for the training of auditors. The Interstate 
Commerce Commission conducts courses designed to 
prepare workers specially needed in this organization. 
The Bureau of Standards conducts advanced training 
courses in physics, mathematics, and chemistry, having 
special reference to the needs of the Bureau. In spite 
of these efforts to provide special training for workers 
in the service at Washington, it is estimated that "less 
than 10 per cent of the offices and bureaus make any 
systematic efforts to train new employees for their work 
or old employees for greater efficiency." ^ 

The state governments have done practically nothing 
to provide systematic training for public employees.^ 

Some of the larger city governments provide to a 
limited extent for the training of public employees. 
Some of them conduct what may be called vestibule 
schools for the training of members of the fire and 
police departments, and also for the members of the 
various inspectional services. Some conduct *'ap- 
prenticeship" courses for the preparation of trained 
nurses in city hospitals. New York City, through the 
agency of the Board of Education and the College of 
the City of New York, offers to municipal employees 
special training courses in bookkeeping, stenography, 

2 Report of the Congressional Joint Commission, 1920, part I, 
p. 118. 

5 The State of Wisconsin is an outstanding exception. It has 
made considerable progress in the training of public employees. 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

business English, commercial arithmetic, algebra, 
municipal accounting, and municipal statistics. These 
courses are offered free of charge or at nominal ex- 
pense, and are conducted after working hours. During 
the past year about 450 students have been enrolled in 
these courses. 

The systematic training of the men and women in the 
public service has not been given the attention it de- 
serves. It has not been given attention at all com- 
parable to that given to the training of workers in 
private employment, or the attention which it must have,, 
if the members of the civil service are to be stimulated 
to their best efforts and developed to the full extent of 
their capabilities. 

The vestibule school should be used more extensively 
as a means of adjusting the recruit to the conditions of 
his new employment. The apprenticeship idea should 
be applied more generally. Most important of all, the 
service or training school should be given a wider appli- 
cation. It should be made a means of adapting present 
employees to new requirements of the service, of facili- 
tating promotion, of stimulating interest and en- 
thusiasm, and generally of increasing the morale and 
efficiency of public employment. 

In the case of the Washington service, a central 
training school for national employees might be estab- 
lished. A recent report of the Bureau of Efficiency pro- 
poses that such a school be established. Discussing the 
curriculum to be offered in such a school, the report 
points out that the government in choosing subjects of 
instruction would be guided 

by the need of giving instruction fitted to its own purpose and 
by the desirability of avoiding duplication of courses offered 
by other schools. It would not attempt to offer courses on 

158 



TRAINING 

general high school and college subjects, such as algebra, 
physics, biology, economics, and the languages. Furthermore, 
it would not teach trade and commercial subjects, such as 
mechanical drawing, nursing, or engineering. The govern- 
ment school should limit itself to courses which are not given 
in other schools, or which are taught in a manner that leaves 
out of consideration the particular needs of the government.^ 

The report suggests the following tentative schedule 

of studies : 

Bookkeeping and elements of accounting. 

Government accounting. 

Elements of statistics. 

Government statistics. 

Filing systems and labor saving devices. 

Government office procedure, 

Use of business English. 

Executive management. 

Organization of the national government. 

Administrative law and statutory construction. 

History of the national government. 

It is proposed that the teaching staff of this school 
be recruited from qualified members of the civil service 
in Washington. 

In response to a questionnaire sent out by the Bureau 
of Education in October, 191 8, over eleven thousand 
national employees in Washington declared their inten- 
tion of enrolling in a government school of the kind pro- 
jected. Of this number "8,804 were willing to pay 
tuition at the rate of $4 a month if necessary." About 
half of the total number intending to enroll declared 
that they wished instruction for the purpose of securing 
further advancement in government work. A training 
school of this kind might be placed under the supervision 
of the Civil Service Commission, provided this body 
underwent the requisite reorganization. 

^ Senate Document No. 246, Sixty-sixth Congress, second session, 
P- 3. 

159 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

A central training school, however, would not be ade- 
quate to all the needs of the Washington service. Many 
of the courses of advanced and highly specialized train- 
ing, as well as the courses designed to introduce new 
employees to their duties, will naturally have to be given 
by the various departments and establishments con- 
cerned. These courses of training should be subject to 
a certain amount of centralized regulation. The power 
to install such courses of training, to coordinate them 
and adjust them to the needs of the service as a whole, 
might well be placed in the hands of the Civil Service 
Commission. 

In the case of a state government, or of a city or 
other local government, an independent training school 
of the kind discussed above is hardly feasible or neces- 
sary. The training school may well take the form of a 
group of courses given by outside educational agencies 
under the auspices of the government and especially 
adapted to the employment requirements of the govern- 
ment. To a certain extent special courses may well be 
given by the various government departments. More- 
over, annual institutes or conferences, offering several 
weeks' intensive training, may well be conducted for the 
benefit of special classes of public employees, such as 
plant engineers, highway engineers, income-tax assess- 
ors, health officers, dairy and food inspectors, etc. 
Such ''group schools" are now used successfully in Wis- 
consin, and might well be conducted more generally. 

The training intended for apprentices, as well as 
that designed to adjust new employees to their im- 
mediate duties, should be given by the various govern- 
ment departments directly concerned. 

The activities undertaken by a state or city govern- 
ment for the training of public employees should be 

i6o 



TRAINING 

placed under the general direction of the civil service 
commission. The commission cannot be a training 
agency, in the sense that it actually gives training and 
instruction, but it should have the duty of furthering the 
training of public employees in every way possible. It 
should recommend and initiate courses of training, co- 
ordinate the training efforts made by the different de- 
partments, and enlist the services of outside educational 
agencies. 

The training of employees within the public service, 
as well as the training of prospective entrants to the 
public service, presupposes an effective motive or in- 
centive. Employees cannot be expected to manifest any 
considerable interest in training for increased usefulness 
unless this training leads to substantial rewards in the 
form of greater responsibility and increased compensa- 
tion. As has been pointed out the public service 
generally does not at the present time hold out these 
rewards to employees to the extent that is desirable. 
Advancement and promotion are often slow and un- 
certain; opportunities for transfer from one govern- 
ment department to another are often surrounded by 
artificial and useless restrictions. To make training 
within the public service really effective and to insure 
the retention of those who have been specially trained, 
opportunities for transfer, advancement, and promotion 
in the public service must be extended. Given this con- 
dition, and also appropriate provision for training, we 
may expect to see the development of an interested, con- 
tented, and truly efficient civil service personnel. 



CHAPTER VIII 

RATING AND CONTROL OF INDIVIDUAL 
EFFICIENCY 

The Problem of Efficiency Ratings. A rating of in- 
dividual efficiency is intended to be a measurement of the 
value of the services rendered throughout a given period 
of time by an individual employee. It is intended to be 
objective and impersonal, or as nearly so as is possible. 
Such a rating, in so far as it is truly objective, has ob- 
viously a considerable value in employment administra- 
tion. It affords the basis for handling problems of re- 
tention and promotion, in the way the rating on the 
civil service examination affords the basis for handling 
the problem of selection. 

A formal and objective rating of individual effi- 
ciency is needed in any large system of employment as a 
means of reducing to a common denominator the value 
of the services of employees who are often engaged on 
highly specialized and divergent lines of work, and who 
are often without immediate contact with the manage- 
ment. In a large system of employment, a formal 
rating of efficiency is a useful means of securing a uni- 
form and enlightened practice in the retention and ad- 
vancement of employees. 

A formal rating of individual efficiency is needed 
more urgently in public than in private employment. 
In addition to the reasons that make it useful in any 
large establishment, an objective rating of individual 

162 



RATING OF EFFICIENCY 

efficiency is needed in public employment because of 
political considerations. Just as an impartial rating on 
examinations is needed to safeguard the entrance to the 
public service, so an objective and impartial rating of 
individual efficiency is needed to safeguard the processes 
of advancement and promotion within the service from 
partisan influence. An objective rating of individual 
efficiency is needed as a basis for the administration of 
salary increases and promotions in accordance with the 
merit principle. 

This fact has found general recognition. Civil 
service laws generally provide that records of the rela- 
tive efficiency of public employees shall be maintained 
and used as the basis of retention, advancement, and 
promotion. In accordance with these laws various 
systems of determining and recording individual effi- 
ciency have been installed, sometimes by civil service 
commissions, sometimes by government departments. 
Many of these systems have proved to be more or less 
unsuccessful experiments. But the need of a method of 
determining individual efficiency is real and urgent ; and 
it must be met if the administration of public employ- 
ment is to be put on a uniform and equitable basis. 

The successful maintenance of individual efficiency 
records in public employment requires two principal 
conditions. It requires a proper rating system; that is, 
a system that makes possible a reliable and not too com- 
plicated measurement of individual efficiency. The de- 
vising of such a rating scheme or system is essentially 
a technical problem, and one of no mean difficulty. 
Moreover, it requires a properly conceived and properly 
controlled rating organization; that is, an organization 
through which individual efficiency ratings are initially 
prepared, reviewed, recorded and applied. The estab- 

163 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

lishment and control of such an organization is essen- 
tially a problem of administration, and requires for its 
solution the ready cooperation of the civil service com- 
mission, department and bureau heads, and subordinate 
employees. 

The Rating System. In devising a rating system it is 
necessary to begin by analyzing the meaning of in- 
dividual efficiency. If the factors which enter into in- 
dividual efficiency can be determined, and if these factors 
are measurable, the basis of a fairly accurate estimate 
of individual efficiency is laid. 

The factors that enter into individual efficiency de- 
pend somewhat on the particular employment in ques- 
tion. It is difficult to determine factors of efficiency 
that enter in precisely the same way and with precisely 
the i>?me weight into all forms of employment. This 
difficulty can be met, in part, at least, by assigning differ- 
ent weights to the several factors of efficiency in the dif- 
ferent types of employment in question. 

A rating system to be useful in public employment, 
or indeed in any form of employment, must meet the 
primary requirement of simplicity. A complicated 
rating system, however scientifically accurate it may be, 
will prove unworkable when placed in the hands of 
rating officers throughout a large system of employment. 
The success of many of the rating systems introduced 
into public employment has been greatly diminished by 
the neglect of this primary consideration. 

The rating system used by the Municipal Civil Ser- 
vice Commission of New York City is perhaps the most 
successful in use at the present time in public employ- 
ment.^ This system is now applied in rating — three 

^Regulation XIII, of the General Regulations, Municipal Civil 
Service Commission of the City of New York, 1920, p. 3. 

164 



RATING OF EFFICIENCY 

times annually — the competitive personnel of all the city 
departments, excepting the uniformed force of the police 
and fire departments. The system recognizes three 
positive factors of efficiency: (i) quantity of work, (2) 
quality of work, and (3) personality. In addition to 
these, it recognizes as negative factors (4) unexcused 
lateness and absence, and (5) misconduct. 

Quantity of work is explained as including "volume 
of work output, speed, industry; in case of positions 
partly or wholly supervisory, the quantity of group out- 
put." Quality of work is explained as including 
"thoroughness, accuracy, system; initiative, ingenuity, 
resourcefulness; improvements in technique and organ- 
ization of work; in the case of positions partly or wholly 
supervisory, decisiveness, force, poise ; ability in planning 
and organizing work and in directing subordinates; 
quality of group output; in the case of positions involv- 
ing contact with the public or with persons under the 
city's care or custody, tact, courtesy, and other personal 
elements affecting the quality of results." Personality 
is defined as including, "willingness, loyalty, influence 
on fellow workers." 

This system provides for a rating on a percentage 
basis. The factor of quantity of work may be given a 
maximum rating of 44 per cent. The factor of quality 
of work may also be given a maximum rating of 44 per 
cent. The factor of personality may be given a maxi- 
mum rating of 12 per cent. A uniform weight is as- 
signed to each of these factors in all lines of employ- 
ment. The standard is fixed in the case of the factors 
of quantity and quality at 35 per cent, and in the case 
of personality at 10 per cent. An employee who re- 
ceives a rating of standard in respect to each of these 
three factors has, therefore, a numerical standing of 80 

165 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

per cent. The standard is explained as being "the 
normal performance of any work which may be properly 
assigned to an employee." It represents the work of the 
great bulk of employees. The Commission requires 
that, under ordinary circumstances, 60 per cent of the 
employees of a large unit shall be rated "standard," 35 
per cent above standard, and five per cent below stand- 
ard. All ratings above or below standard must be sup- 
ported by an adequate statement of the facts of service 
in question. 

For unexcused lateness and absence, and mis- 
conduct, deductions may be made from the rating 
awarded on the basis of the three factors discussed 
above. In making these deductions considerable dis- 
cretion is allowed the rating officer. A deduction of 
from one to ten per cent may be made for each unex- 
cused lateness or absence; and a deduction of not less 
than one per cent is required for each specific act of mis- 
conduct, the maximum amount being left to the discre- 
tion of the department. The regulations require that 
these deductions "shall be in proportion to the character 
of the employee's work and the relative seriousness of 
the ofifense at the time of its occurrence, due regard 
being given to its effect on departmental discipline and 
efficiency." 

This system comes nearer to meeting the require- 
ments of public employment than any other system that 
has been proposed. It has the advantage of being com- 
paratively simple and therefore feasible when put into 
actual operation. By defining the percentage of em- 
ployees of a large group that shall fall in the three 
classes — standard, below standard, and above standard 
— it establishes a basis for comparisons of individual 
efficiency. It employs a numerical scale that makes pos- 

166 



RATING OF EFFICIENCY 

sible an immediate combination of efficiency ratings 
with the other ratings that enter into the determination 
of the standing of an employee in a promotion exami- 
nation. Most important of all, it is based on a com- 
paratively sound analysis of the factors of individual 
efficiency. It recognizes the fact that in estimating the 
efficiency of an employee we are primarily interested in 
the quantity and quality of his output, that is, in his 
productiveness. It avoids the mistake of analyzing effi- 
ciency in terms of factors that are of doubtful im- 
portance, or that, if important, are difficult or impossi- 
ble to measure objectively. This mistake has frequently 
been made in devising rating systems. For example, 
the system installed in 1914 by the Chicago Civil Service 
Commission used the four principal factors of ability, 
activity, economy, and reliability. The rating system 
installed in 19 14 by the Civil Service Section of Port- 
land (Ore.) made use of the three principal factors of 
ability, effectiveness, and personality. 

Ability as such is a difficult thing for a rating officer 
to gauge, and it is not a factor of primary importance 
in making a rating of efficiency. In making an effi- 
ciency rating we are directly interested not in the ability 
of an employee but in his actual performance in a given 
position. The New York rating system recognizes this 
fact in selecting quantity and quality of work as the 
principal factors of efficiency. This system lacks the 
flexibility that would be desirable in an ideal rating 
system. It assigns a uniform weight to the various 
factors of efficiency regardless of the kind of employ- 
ment in question. In fact, each of the three positive 
elements of efficiency plays a larger part in some lines of 
work than in others. For example, the factor of per- 
sonality is certainly more important in executive work 

167 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION • 

than in routine clerical occupations. This considera- 
tion is recognized in the rating system used by the Port- 
land Civil Service Commission. The Portland system 
permits the assignment of different weights to each 
factor according to the character of the work in ques- 
tion. This device accomplishes a comparatively close 
adaptation of the rating system to the peculiarities of 
the various classes of employment. It must be used 
with caution, however, or the rating system will become 
too complicated for practical purposes. 
The Rating Organization, The civil service administra- 
tion should exercise a general supervision and control 
over the installation of rating systems. In some cases, 
particularly in the national government, the several 
departments have installed rating systems on their 
own initiative. There is no objection to this, but it is 
desirable that the work of installing rating systems be 
undertaken in cooperation with the civil service com- 
mission to the end that, as far as varying conditions 
permit, uniformity shall prevail. Certainly, the civil 
service commission should have the responsibility of 
seeing that proper rating systems are employed, and of 
taking the initiative in this matter. 

Moreover, the civil service commission should have 
powers of supervision and control over the actual opera- 
tion of the rating system. 

In carrying out this work of supervision and con- 
trol, the civil service commission in a large jurisdiction 
requires the services of a special efficiency staff, members 
of which keep in constant touch with rating officers, and 
represent the commission on the various personnel com- 
mittees responsible for the review and certification of 
ratings. 

An officer or employee who is in fairly immediate 

i68 



RATING OF EFFICIENCY 

contact with the employees to be rated, and who is thor- 
oughly familiar with the circumstances of their service, 
should prepare the initial ratings of individual efficiency. 
He is ordinarily known as the "rating officer." The 
rating officer should be designated by the service head. 
It is desirable to select a rating officer who in all proba- 
bility will not compete at any time in a promotion ex- 
amination with the employees whom he is required to 
rate. The degree of fairness and insight shown by the 
rating officer in assigning efficiency ratings should be 
taken into account in the determination of his own ef- 
ficiency. 

In the case of a large organization, the rating officer 
should cooperate with a representative of the civil ser- 
vice commission. He should be guided by instructions 
and suggestions from the commission. These instruc- 
tions should be issued, wherever possible, in printed 
form, and should contain a definite explanation of the 
factors and standards to be used in determining effi- 
ciency ratings. 

In most cases it is desirable that a committee or 
board should review, and where necessary, modify the 
initial ratings prepared by the rating officer. There is 
an advantage in having the reviewing committee or 
board contain a representative of the civil service com- 
mission. The New York City regulations provide that 
this representative "shall be ex-officio member without 
vote of every bureau committee and inter-bureau com- 
mittee and of the personal board of such department, 
and shall be notified by writing in advance of all meet- 
ings of such committees and board." ^ 
Preparation of Ratings. Efficiency ratings are some- 
times prepared by using a separate form for each in- 
2 Ibid., p. 5. 

169 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

dividual. Sometimes they are prepared on a form that 
shows the ratings of all the employees of an organization 
unit. The New York City Commission requires ratings 
on separate forms for all employees who are rated above 
or below standard. It permits the submission of a list 
of all the employees of a department whose services are 
rated at standard. This plan is a convenient one. It 
requires the submission of detailed ratings only in the 
case of employees who fall below or above the standard, 
that is, in the case of about 40 per cent of the total 
number of employees. Ratings should be made at 
definite intervals throughout the year. Experience has 
shown that ratings should not be required too fre- 
quently. Where they are required as frequently as once 
a month the preparation of ratings tends to degenerate 
into an entirely perfunctory procedure. Efficiency 
ratings, after they have been prepared and finally re- 
viewed, should be open to the inspection of the civil 
service commission. 

Inspection of Ratings by Employees. Each employee 
should be allowed to inspect his own rating, and also the 
ratings of fellow employees with whom he may be ex- 
pected to compete for promotions. He should also have 
the right of asking that the matter of his rating be 
reopened. In extreme cases the matter might be called 
to the attention of the civil service commission. 
The New York City regulation covering this point is 
stated as follows : ^ 

Said appeal shall be in duplicate and shall set forth the 
facts establishing the candidate's claim to a different rating. 
Upon receiving said appeal a copy thereof shall be transmitted 
by the Civil Service Commission to the Personnel Board which 
shall within ten days thereafter file with the Commission its 

^ Ibid., p. 6. 

170 



RATING OF EFFICIENCY 

written answer thereto. Upon said appeal and the answer 
thereto the Commission shall make svich ruling as justice re- 
quires. 

It is very much of a question, however, whether in 
the case of many governments any such powers should 
be vested in the Civil Service Commission. In most 
cases it is sufficient that the commission have the power 
of inspection and making known its conclusions. 
The Use of Efficiency Ratings. Efficiency ratings, if 
they are sufficiently reliable, may be applied in a 
number of important ways in the administration of 
public employment. They may be used in checking up 
the effectiveness of examining procedure. If investi- 
gation shows that the employees who receive the highest 
efficiency ratings are also those who received the highest 
ratings in the entrance examination, it is proper to con- 
clude that the examining procedure is effective; and 
conversely, if the contrary is shown it is proper to con- 
clude that the examining procedure is lacking. Civil 
service laws generally provide that ratings of efficiency 
shall be used in determining questions of retention and 
dismissal. Failure to attain a fair standard of efficiency 
should be a ground for dismissal from the service. 
Ratings of individual efficiency, of course, play a con- 
siderable part, and, under ideal conditions, should play 
a very important part in determining the advancement 
and promotion of employees. 

Where efficiency ratings are fairly and intelligently 
prepared, and where they are used in the manner out- 
lined above, they exercise a valuable influence on the 
personnel of the establishment in question. They be- 
come positive factors in the encouragement of effi- 
ciency. They produce throughout the service a feeling 
that the character of the work done by each individual 

171 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

is given close attention, and that good work receives 
just recognition and appropriate rewards. In this way, 
efficiency ratings, apart from being records of past per- 
formance, are useful instruments for the maintenance 
of high standards of individual and group efficiency. 



CHAPTER IX 

ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

The Problem of Promotion. In a large and well con- 
ducted system of private employment, promotion has a 
threefold significance. It is of direct value to the 
management as a means of recruiting workers for the 
higher positions; it permits the selection of workers for 
the higher positions on the basis of extended observa- 
tion; and it ensures the utilization of the experience 
and training gained through a period of employment. 
To the employee promotion is of direct significance 
as a reward, or possible reward. Actual promotion is 
a reward, while the opportunity for promotion is a pos- 
sible reward, something still in the future but never- 
theless a matter of considerable significance. Finally, 
promotion is of direct significance to the management, 
inasmuch as the rewards given to employees and the 
incentive held out to them react in important ways on 
practically all of the phases of employment administra- 
tion. The actual promotions given to employees tend 
to create a contented, stable, and efficient personnel. 
The opportunities for promotion held out to employees 
have a similar effect. They operate as fundamental 
and far-reaching incentives. They affect the success 
with which suitable workers are originally recruited; 
they determine in large part the success with which em- 
ployees are retained ; they affect the efforts of employees 
in the direction of training and self-improvement; they 
affect the maintenance of proper discipline; they de- 

^7Z 



/ PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

termine in large part the good will and enthusiasm that 
prevail within the organization; and they determine in 
large part the standards of efficiency that are accepted 
and maintained. 

In the public service, promotion is in an unsatis- 
factory condition. It is unsatisfactory when considered 
in comparison with private enterprise, and also when 
considered with reference to what might be done in the 
public service itself. Governments do not avail them- 
selves fully of promotion as a means of recruiting 
workers for the higher positions in government employ- 
ment. They disregard in this respect one of the obvious 
principles of successful management. They do not in 
any systematic way base the selection of workers for the 
higher and more responsible posts on the observation 
made possible by an extended period of employment; 
and they do not utilize to the fullest extent the training 
and experience gained by workers in public employ- 
ment. Instead, they follow too generally the policy of 
filling the higher positions in the public service by re- 
cruiting from outside the service workers who are too 
frequently chosen with regard to their political affilia- 
tion rather than with regard to their superior qualifica- 
tions. 

Nor do public employees themselves generally re- 
ceive the merited rewards of faithful service and in- 
creased usefulness. They may enter the public service 
filled with a high degree of enthusiasm for their work, 
only to meet with disappointment and disillusionment 
when they realize fully the fact that the public service 
offers little opportunity for advancement. Many have 
been compelled by this circumstance to leave the public 
service, and to find employment on more advantageous 
terms in private enterprise. Many who have remained 

174 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

in the public service have been made to bear an un- 
warranted amount of hardship. 

As a consequence, our various governments fail to 
derive the important indirect benefits that would result 
from a well planned and well conducted system of pro- 
motion. Instead, they suffer all the evils that follow in- 
directly from a neglect of the important problem of the 
advancement and promotion of public employees. 

The fact that public employment does not hold out 
the prospect of promotion as the reward of faithful 
service and increased usefulness has a marked retro- 
active effect on all the processes of personnel adminis- 
tration. It has a discouraging effect on recruiting. 
It tends to deter ambitious and capable workers from 
entering the public service. It frequently causes the 
better type of worker to leave the public service for 
work in the field of private enterprise. It discourages 
workers from entering upon courses of training calcu- 
lated to prepare them for increased usefulness in public 
employment. It makes difficult the maintenance of 
discipline and of good will and enthusiasm throughout 
government establishments. As a result it renders 
difficult the maintenance of high standards of individual 
and group efficiency. 

This situation is due in the main to two underlying 
conditions: the small number of opportunities for pro- 
motion that actually exist in our systems of public em- 
ployment and the faulty methods by which promotion is 
frequently administered. 

The first requisite of any radical improvement of 
the public service with regard to promotion is, therefore, 
an extension of the opportunities for promotion actually 
existing in our systems of public employment. This 
extension of opportunities encounters certain natural 

175 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

limitations. Writing with particular regard to the 
federal service, Lewis Mayers has recently drawn at- 
tention to the fact that 

the quantity of routine, specialized, regimented operations re- 
quired is so vastly in excess of the creative, executive, or other 
individual activities, that for the great mass of federal em- 
ployees, as for the great mass of industrial workers, there can 
be no prospect of even ultimate ascent to posts of even inter- 
mediate responsibility and importance. For the great mass a 
long future in the federal service cannot, in the nature of the 
case, offer anything worthy to be called a career. The best 
that it can hope to offer is security, adequate, and, within fairly 
narrow limits, increasing, compensation, and the sense of use- 
ful work faithfully done.^ 

A system of public employment necessarily includes 
many more positions involving only routine and special- 
ized operations than positions involving creative and in- 
dividual activity and correspondingly higher rates of 
compensation. Private employment does the same. 
But public employment, in the nature of the case, offers 
fewer opportunities for promotion to positions of first- 
rate importance than does private enterprise, and no 
opportunities at all of promotion to positions involving 
extremely high rewards in terms of remuneration. 
This circumstance is inherent in the nature of govern- 
ment employment. But, admitting these limitations, 
much may be done to bring about an extension of the 
opportunities for promotion in our systems of public 
employment. The present opportunities for advance- 
ment and promotion in the public service are needlessly 
restricted; they may be substantially extended by the 
adoption of suitable measures by legislative bodies, 
civil service commissions and administrative officers. 

1 Mayers, "Some Phases of the Federal Personnel Problem," 
American Political Science Review, May, 1920, vol. xiv, p. 235. 

, 176 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

The second requisite of any marked improvement of 
the public service in respect to advancement and pro- 
motion is the introduction of fair and effective methods 
for the administration of advancements and promotions. 
This calls for a conscientious enforcement of the merit 
principle, and also for the devising of a technique suited 
to determine the fitness of employees for advancement 
and for promotion to the higher positions in the public 
service. 

The Distinction between Advancement and Promotion. 
In ordinary usage the terms "advancement" and ''pro- 
motion" are regarded as synonymous. In civil service 
practice no distinction between these particular terms is 
universally recognized. But many civil service officers, 
as well as others who are engaged in the work of putting 
the civil service on a business-like and efficient basis, 
have for some time recognized the need of drawing a 
distinction between appointment to a position of higher 
rank and mere increase in salary. The New York State 
Report of 191 6 and the recent report of the Congres- 
sional Joint Commission emphasize this fundamental 
distinction and indicate it by the terms "promotion" and 
advancement. 

A promotion is a change from one class (or grade) 
of position to a higher class (or grade) of position. It 
implies that the employee in question is given a new civil 
service title, that he assumes new duties and receives 
increased compensation. An advancement is merely an 
increase or advance in salary. It does not involve a new 
title or the assumption of a different kind of duties. To 
the public employee, advancement and promotion may 
represent substantially the same thing, in so far as they 
both mean to him the opportunity which the public ser- 
vice offers for increased compensation. They involve, 

177 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

however, widely different problems of basic organiza- 
tion and of administration. 

Provision for Advancement. The creation of oppor- 
tunities for advancement in the sense just defined is pos- 
sible only in connection with a program of classification 
and salary standardization. Provision for advance- 
ment within a given class (or grade) of employment 
can be made only where the various positions of a system 
of public employment have been scientifically classified 
according to work requirements ; that is, only where all 
positions involving essentially the same duties have been 
put in one class and have been made the subject of 
similar treatment as regards terms and conditions of 
employment. Where the positions have been so classi- 
fied, provision for advancement in salary without change 
of position may be made by assigning to each class of 
position a range of compensation that includes a mini- 
mum and a maximum rate and, where practicable, one 
or more intermediate rates. 

Provision for increase in salary without promotion 
to a higher class of position should include also appro- 
priate machinery whereby salary increases may be 
granted at definite intervals on the basis of length of 
service and increased efficiency. 

Administration of Advancement. Heads of government 
departments now administer salary increases, as well as 
promotions proper, with little regard to the nominal con- 
trol by civil service commissions. Administrative heads 
should be directly responsible for the granting of salary 
increases, though they should act in this matter under 
the general supervision of the civil service commission 
in question. Under the arrangement here discussed, 
administrative heads would be restricted in the granting 

of salary increases to the limits defined for the various 

178 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

classes In the schedules of compensation adopted by the 
legislative body. They would also be governed in the 
granting of salary increases by the efficiency ratings of 
the employees under their supervision; and the practi- 
cal success of the scheme of automatic salary increases 
v^ould depend in large part on the care with which 
records of individual efficiency are maintained. Ad- 
ministrative officers will also be required to administer 
salary increases on a uniform and equitable basis, rec- 
ognizing superior efficiency by appropriate rewards in 
terms of increased compensation. 

Discussing the operation of a plan of automatic sal- 
ary increases, the report of the Congressional Joint 
Commission says:^ 

It is the belief of the Commission that an employee on 
entering any class should be paid the minimum rate prescribed 
for that class, and should be advanced through the inter- 
mediate rates to the maximum only on the basis of demon- 
strated efficiency. Furthermore, the Commission believes that 
with successive salary advancements, the standard of required 
efficiency should be increased so as to enable only the most 
efficient employees to secure the maximum rate. Thus, if four 
rates of pay were provided for a given class, an efficiency rating 
of 80 per cent might be required for advancement from the 
minimum to the next higher rate, 85 per cent to the next 
higher, and 90 per cent to the maximum. 

The report continues : 

Failure on the part of any employee to maintain the stand- 
ard of efficiency set for the rate being paid should be followed 
by his reduction to a lower salary rate in the same class, the 
rate to be determined by his efficiency rating; while failure at 
any time to maintain a minimum standard of efficiency as pre- 
scribed by the Civil Service Commission should be followed 
by dismissal. 

2 Report of the Congressional Joint Commission, 1920, part I, 
p. 124. 

179 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

The-plan of automatic salary increases takes account 
of the fact that in many lines of work the public em- 
ployee cannot reasonably expect rapid promotion to a 
higher class of position, but that he should be able to 
look forward with reasonable certainty to salary in- 
creases at definite intervals. It goes a great way to- 
wards overcoming the deadening effect of the stationary 
rates of pay all too prevalent in public employment. 

This plan of automatic salary increases has been 
tried out in some civil service jurisdictions, and where- 
ever it has been put into force it has had a distinctly 
beneficial effect on the morale and efficiency of the public 
service. 

Provision for Promotion. The extension of oppor- 
tunities for promotion must also be based in large part 
on measures that go to make up a scheme of classifica- 
tion and standardization. In one important respect, 
however, an enlargement of the opportunity for pro- 
motion in the public service depends on another con- 
dition. It depends on a thorough application of the 
merit principle. The opportunity for promotion open 
to the more capable and ambitious members of the 
public service would be materially increased if the 
higher posts, as well as many posts of intermediate im- 
portance that are now treated as "exempt," were placed 
in the classified service and treated as subject to exam- 
ination requirements. 

Provision for an adequate system of promotion must 

include a series of job specifications as well as a series 

of definitions of all the classes of jobs or positions in the 

system of employment in question in terms of the work 

involved and the educational and other qualifications 

required. Such a series of job specifications reveals at 

once the generic functional relations between the various 

i8o 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

jobs of the system of employment in question. It makes 
possible an understanding of the natural lines of pro- 
motion within a system, of employment; that is, the lines 
of promotion that lead to a given position and lead from 
it to higher and more responsible positions. A stand- 
ardization provides this necessary groundwork of an 
adequate system of promotion. 

Provision for an adequate systern of promotion must 
also include a reasonably close correlation between the 
duties of various positions and the compensation at- 
tached to them. It must include that degree of co- 
relation which insures that as the duties of positions 
become more arduous and more valuable the pay at- 
tached to them shall increase in something like the same 
proportion. This seems obvious as a principle of effi- 
cient management. At the same time it is true that in 
public employment this principle often is not put into 
practice. It frequently happens in public employment 
that a position involving fairly difficult and valuable 
services is paid at a rate equal to or even less than other 
positions involving less difficult and less valuable ser- 
vices. This circumstance has been in large part re- 
sponsible for the fact that it has generally been im- 
possible in public employment to administer promotion 
on an equitable and business-like basis. 

An effective handling of the problem of promotion 
in the public service requires provision for inter-de- 
partmental promotion. The definition of classes of 
positions in functional terms and the standardization 
of salaries throughout an entire system of employ- 
ment virtually imply a provision of this character. 
Unfortunately these measures of standardization have 
by no means been universally adopted. Under the 
conditions that have generally existed, promotion from 

i8i 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

a position in one government department to a higher 
position in another department has been of rare oc- 
currence. Indeed, civil service laws have generally 
provided that promotion shall be, as far as practic- 
able, from the lower grades or classes within the de- 
partment, bureau, or institution in which a vacancy has 
arisen. In the case of some classes of positions, par- 
ticularly those requiring familiarity with executive 
practice, this rule may have a certain justification; but 
in the case of many types of positions, particularly those 
involving duties of a clerical nature, it has led to un- 
fortunate results in public employment. 

The practice of discouraging inter-departmental 
promotion has often led to marked inequality in the aver- 
age rate of advancement and promotion in the several de- 
partments of a government. In New York State it was 
found that "the average rapidity of advancements for 
employees recruited from the same or similar eligible 
lists, with similar qualifications, and performing the 
same kind of work, differs so widely in the several de- 
partments that, whereas the employees of some depart- 
ments are advanced with undue rapidity and without 
adequate preliminary training, those in other depart- 
ments receive wholly inadequate recognition." ^ Clerks 
in six of the principal state departments remained in one 
salary grade before being advanced to the grade next : 
higher according to the following averages : 

Finance Department , ,. . 6j4. months 

Education Department , 19^ months j 

Health Department 7^ months ' 

Insurance Department » ; 6 months \ 

Labor Department , 5^ months ' 

State Department i ly^ rnonths ! 

8 New York Senate Committee, Report on Civil Service, 1916, p. < 
xix. 

182 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

It may be seen readily that employers in the De- 
partment of Education and in the Department of State 
were receiving much less consideration in the matter of 
promotion than their fellow-workers in more fortu- 
nately situated departments. This state of affairs nec- 
essarily has an unfortunate effect on both the morale 
and working efficiency of the public service. 

A plan that permits inter-departmental promotion 
opens up the opportunity for growth and development 
to all properly qualified members of a system of public 
employment regardless of the organization unit in which 
they were originally appointed. It relieves the situation 
of those who have found their way in what would other- 
wise prove "blind alley" occupations. It removes a 
frequent cause of unrest and dissatisfaction and tends 
to promote materially the morale of the public service. 
By opening up the opportunity to compete for the higher 
positions to all qualified members of the service it in- 
sures a larger field from which to choose workers for the 
higher positions and increases accordingly the chances 
of finding workers who are well qualified and competent 
to occupy the higher positions. 

Closely connected with the question of inter-depart- 
mental promotion is that of transfer from one de- 
partment to another. The transfer is not in itself 
a promotion, but it may be a means to subsequent 
promotion. At the present time transfer from one de- 
partment to another is usually extremely difficult to 
accomplish. This is particularly true in the national 
service at Washington, where an employee is not or- 
dinarily transferred out of a department until he has 
worked in it for a period of three years. Where the 
salaries paid throughout a system of public employment 
have been standardized, a high degree of freedom of 

183 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

transfer from one department to another will not ordi- 
narily be abused. In line with practice in progressive 
private employment, it should be permitted as a means of 
adjusting the personnel to the varied requirements of 
the public service and of facilitating individual develop- 
ment and promotion. 

Any plan for the substantial enlargement of the op- 
portunity for promotion in the public service must in- 
clude a provision for the systematic retirement of public 
employees. Where no retirement system is in opera- 
tion, the older employees often remain in the serv- 
ice, and often in the higher positions, long after the 
period of maximum, or even moderate, usefulness has 
passed. Administrative officers are usually unwilling to 
remove them, and, under the circumstances, they may 
be justified on humanitarian grounds. The effect of 
this situation on the opportunity for promotion in the 
public service is obvious. 

The opportunity for promotion in the public service, 
furthermore, may be extended indirectly by suitable 
provision for the training of public employees. Strictly 
speaking, the opportunity for promotion implies not only 
existing vacancies, but also preparation for the occu- 
pancy of these vacancies. In a sense, preparation for 
promotion is the immediate business of the employee 
concerned. In a wider view it is, at the same time, the 
business of the employer. As pointed out in Chapter 
VI there are certain limitations to what a govern- 
ment may practically undertake to do in the way 
of preparing its employees for promotion. In certain 
circumstances, however, a government may well under- 
take to provide training designed to prepare its em- 
ployees for increased usefulness and for eventual pro- j 
motion. In providing directly or arranging for special 

184 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

training of its employees, a government will promote 
its own interests, in the sense that it will further the 
development and proper placement of its personnel. It 
will also promote the interests of its employees by open- 
ing up to them a greater opportunity for self -develop- 
ment and for a permanent and satisfactory career in 
public employment. 

The chance of promotion may also be increased by 
facilitating the movement of employees from the higher 
positions in the service of one government to similar or 
better positions in the service of another. Such fa 
movement will create vacancies in the service in which 
the persons in question were employed ; and it will also 
enable the persons concerned to work out a satisfactory 
career in the public service. Transfer of this kind from 
one government to another might well be encouraged 
in this country. As a beginning, the movement of 
municipal employees from one jurisdiction to another in 
the same state might be facilitated. There is no good 
reason why the movement of public employees between 
different states or between states and the national 
government should not also be permitted and en- 
couraged. 

Administration of Promotion. The actual filling of 
the higher positions in the public service by promotion, 
like the selection of candidates for original appoint- 
ment, presents questions of the proper location of 
authority, of conscientious adherence to the merit 
principle, and of the devising of effective examining 
technique. 

Civil service commissions have usually been given 
the power to regulate the making of promotions, but, as 
a general rule, they have failed to exercise this power. 
In the national service, the Commission usually limits 

185 



1 PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

its control over promotions to the holding in certain 
cases of a so-called qualifying or non-competitive ex- 
amination. A few state and city commissions under- 
take to regulate promotion from class to class on the 
basis of competitive examination. Most civil service 
commissions, however, have failed to require even a 
qualifying examination as a basis of promotion. They 
have allowed the control over promotion, as well as the 
control over mere salary increases, to remain almost 
entirely in the hands of administrative officers. 

Civil service commissions should exercise such con- 
trol over the granting of promotions as will insure that 
the several operating services are handling this im- 
portant feature of personnel administration in a proper 
manner. They should accomplish promotion uniformity 
as far as varying conditions permit. 

In exercising supervision over the granting of pro- 
motions, the civil service commission must be concerned 
in the first place with the enforcement of the merit prin- 
ciple. Under the conditions that have existed in the 
public service, the merit principle has been more laxly 
enforced in connection with promotion than in connec- 
tion with original appointment. In the making of pro- 
motions, favoritism and political influence have too 
often played a large part. As a means of administering 
promotion in accordance with the merit principle and as 
a means of securing a truly efficient personnel in the 
higher positions of the government service, civil service 
commissions should encourage the use of competitive 
examinations. This applies especially to the subordi- 
nate positions. The higher positions require to a marked 
degree the attributes of personality and executive 
ability. They involve a greater amount of the qualities 
indicated by the terms "executive ability" and "per- 

i86 



ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 

sonality." In these cases formal tests of fitness are 
more difficult to devise and standardize. 

In civil service practice, promotion is usually made on 
the basis of three factors: length of service, efficiency 
rating, promotion test proper. Length of service is an 
indication of loyalty. It may also be an indication of 
increased ability and usefulness. It should, however, 
receive only a limited weight. A standard length of 
service should be set up, and service beyond this length 
should be given little or no additional weight. The 
efficiency rating is an indication of the performance of 
the applicant over a definite period of time in his present 
position and should undoubtedly be given great weight. 
In not a few cases, however, main dependence can be 
placed upon the promotion test proper. This test may 
be either a written or a practical test. As in the case 
of the entrance test, the promotion test should be drawn 
up with careful regard to the specification of duties and 
qualifications required in the job or position to be filled. 
At the same time the test should be designed, not so 
much to bring out special or technical information as 
to reveal native ability to handle the duties of the new 
position. 

Where the competitive examination is made the 
basis of promotion, the machinery of certification and 
appointment is substantially the same as that previously 
discussed in connection with original selection. It 
usually provides for the preparation by the civil service 
commission of a list of candidates eligible to the position 
to be filled by promotion; the certification of candidates, 
usually three in number, who are deemed eligible to the 
position in question; appointment by the department 
head; and an opportunity for the refusal of final ap- 
pointment during the period of probation. The certi- 

187 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

fication of at least three eligible candidates is necessary 
as a measure of effective management. It enables the 
department head to take into account the personal quali- 
ties of the candidates, to reward deserving service in 
his own organization, and to offset imperfections in the 
method of examination. 

As a final word, it may be well to stress again the 
fact that it is generally desirable to fill the higher 
positions in the civil service by promotion — in so far as 
they cannot be filled by reinstatement — rather than by 
recruiting from outside the service. "In ordinary cir- 
cumstances only in case a promotion examination fails 
to secure three eligibles should any attempt be made to 
obtain employees through an open competitive examina- 
tion." * 

* Report of the Congressional Joint Commission, 1920, part I, 
p. 124. 



CHAPTER X 
EMPLOYEES' REPRESENTATION 

The last two decades represent a period of unusual 
industrial and commercial expansion in the United 
States. Under the impetus of this expansion and under 
the stress of competition, individual organizations have 
assumed immense size. This era of reorganization 
brought with it many new problems of management. 
Methods of increasing production or decreasing over- 
head and operating costs were eagerly adopted. The 
man with an idea or device for increasing plant pro- 
duction or efficiency was recognized. A new profes- 
sional group called industrial engineers, efficiency ex- 
perts, and management specialists sprang up. Each 
group of specialists came forth with a particular remedy 
or line of remedies. All put emphasis, however, upon 
systems of control. 

Great strides in the development of factory and 
plant efficiency were made as the result of this effort, 
but the success obtained on the mechanical side of plant 
and factory efficiency directed forcible attention to one 
important phase of the production problem that had been 
neglected, namely, the problem of the worker. Ex- 
perience in this period has demonstrated that, however 
important the institutional and mechanical conditions of 
controlling and developing production, efficiency de- 
mands something else. It demands the interest of the 
employee in his job, the sympathetic cooperation of the 
employee with the employer, team play between the di- 

189 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

reeling personnel and the subordinate personnel which 
springs from the desire — as well as the means — of co- 
operation. Private organization learned, as it had 
never learned before, the need and value of morale. 
Especially did the great war emphasize this factor. 
The patriotic interest of every citizen was aroused. He 
was made to feel the importance of doing his best. 
Team play and united effort in a common cause re- 
sulted. 

That the conditions normally existing in private or 
public enterprise do not conduce sufficiently toward this 
spirit of cooperation, is generally recognized. In some 
way the employee must be made to feel an interest in the 
results of his work. To this end he must be given some 
opportunity to participate in its determination and his 
work conditions, at least to the extent of being able 
formally to make known his opinion regarding the 
justice and desirability of these conditions. 

The development of a system of employees' repre- 
sentation has accomplished much in private enterprise. 
By employees' representation is meant the means fur- 
nished to the employee within an organization for voic- 
ing his grievances, advising the management on employ- 
ment questions, such as compensation, discharges, etc., 
or on factory and plant production. It represents the 
means for a closer touch between the management and 
the employee. 

Many systems of employees' representation have 
been tried. Some organizations have introduced the 
simple shop committee plan, each shop committee being 
an independently functioning unit. Others have 
brought the shop committees under the control of a 
central coordinating board which advises directly with 
the board of directors or the management. 

190 



EMPLOYEES' REPRESENTATION 

The movement for employees' representation in the 
public service is making itself definitely felt at the pres- 
ent time. It started by the independent formation of 
employees' organizations. In a number of cities associa- 
tions of employees are found covering particular ser- 
vices, especially the police, fire, and teaching services. 
Associations embracing all the employees of a particular 
municipality are rare. Where found, they are usually 
weak and ineffective. In the national service, however, 
in addition to several organizations covering particular 
services, there is found a "National Federation of Fed- 
eral Employees Union," affiliated with the American 
Federation of Labor, which invites to its membership 
employees of all branches of the service. The scope and 
strength of this organization is shown by the fact that 
its membership embraces approximately 200 local units 
scattered through the country with a membership that 
now numbers 60,000. It publishes a weekly magazine 
that keeps its membership informed on all questions 
affecting the organization and the status or welfare of 
federal employees. 

The purpose of this union as defined in Article 2 of 
its Constitution is: (a) To advance the social and eco- 
nomic welfare and education of the employees of the 
United States and (b) to aid in the perfection of 
systems that will make for greater efficiency in the 
various services of the United States. The program 
adopted for the fulfillment of this purpose seems to have 
in mind both the interest of the government and the 
welfare of the employee. It includes the following 
significant features: 

(a) Procurement of legislation beneficial to the govern- 
ment service and employees, and protection from unjust and 
inconsiderate enactment of laws affecting^ them. 

191 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

(b) Reclassification of salaries and wages based upon the 
value of work done. 

(c) A satisfactory retirement plan (recently adopted). 

(d) Improvement of methods and systems of work in the 
government service so that they may be brought more up to| 
date, made more efficient and more responsive to the needs of! 
the United States. i 

(e) A minimum wage law to provide that every govern- 
ment employee shall be able to work in health and decency. 

(f) Extension of the merit system or civil service classi- 
fication to all positions of the government service. i 

(g) The appointment of a civil service board of appeals j 
or a board of mediation and conciliation composed of repre- | 
sentatives of the employees and the employer for the consid- ' 
eration of differences and grievances. ! 

(h) Improved working conditions, including half holidays 
on Saturdays through the year, and reasonably safe and com- 
fortable places in which to do work. j 

These objects certainly include the essential fea- 
tures of a progressive employment program. The 
methods enumerated for the accomplishment of these I 
objects have been the subject of considerable discussion i 
and debate. The constitution says: 

Sec. 2. The methods for attaining these objects shall be by | 
petition to Congress, by creating and fostering public senti- ; 
ment favorable to proposed reforms, by cooperation with gov- ; 
ernment officials and employees, by legislation, and other law- .' 
ful means; provided, that under no circumstances shall this 
Federation engage in or support strikes against the United ' 
States Government. 

In place of strikes against the United States Govern- ; 
ment, which the union repudiates, it is proposed to em- 
ploy pressure upon Congress by "personal contact , . . * 
between representatives of the Union and Congressmen ; 
and Committees of Congress," and "by each member of 
the Union dealing with his representative or senator in- ; 
dividually and 'through the folks back home.' " It has ; 

192 I 



EMPLOYEES' REPRESENTATION 

been argued that the principal effect of this program, if 
adhered to, would be to further emphasize political 
patronage, to strengthen the political hold of senators 
and congressmen upon the administrative officers re- 
sponsible for the conduct of the nation's business, and 
to subordinate the legitimate interests of the govern- 
ment to the political ends to be served. 

This view would seem to put the emphasis on a 
danger that is quite remote and to lose sight of the highly 
beneficial objects of this form of representation. It 
would seem, too, to overlook the essential facts that have 
entered into the prosecution of many of our great re- 
forms, namely, organization of the group interest or 
class to be affected. The business interests of the 
country have maintained a Chamber of Commerce 
which under an enlightened program represents the 
business interests of the country before the Congress of 
the United States. The farming interest and the 
granges of the country have similar representation in 
Washington. Groups of private enterprises and 
various social movements maintain organizations for 
bringing what is generally thought to be "legitimate 
pressure" upon the legislative body of the nation. 

The union, according to the claims of its leadership, 
frowns upon political pressure where the matters under 
consideration can be handled through administrative 
channels. It is significant that this agency is now plead- 
ing for a reorganization of the whole system of employ- 
ment control under which many matters now being 
handled from year to year by Congress will be disposed 
of, as they should be disposed of, within the executive 
departments and thus dispense entirely with the need 
for pressure upon the legislative body. Reference is 
made to the movement for reclassification of the per- 

193 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

sonnel of the national government and standardization 
of employment conditions under an arrangement where- 
by an administrative machinery attached either to the 
Civil Service Commission or some other administrative 
unit, such as the Budget Bureau, will determine, sub- 
ject to any revision of the law itself, rates and grades 
of compensation, and make official recommendations as 
to payroll expenditures, etc. 

The need in private enterprise for a broad form of 
employees' representation within each plant or organi- 
zation has its counterpart also in the public service. 
The Civil Service Commission and the various state and 
municipal civil service commissions have been too far 
removed from the conditions under which the employees 
work. The development within our larger governments, 
that is,, governments employing more than 3000 em- 
ployees, of a wide system of representation is funda- 
mental. Each department should have a personnel 
board that would function in close cooperation with the 
civil service commission, itself conducting investigations 
and advising the commission of changes in the rules 
and regulations that should be adopted. 



APPENDIX 1 

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES CLASSIFIED 
ACCORDING TO LEGAL CONDITIONS OF CONTROL 

I. Federal and Insular 

1. Established by Federal Act 

Federal Government of the United States 

2. Established by Acts of Insular Legislatures 
Hawaii Philippine Islands Porto Rico 

11. State : Established by Statute 

1. Commissions that recruit and control em- 
ployees for the State Government 

California Connecticut ^ Kansas 

Colorado Illinois Maryland 

Wisconsin 

2. Commissions that recruit and control em- 
ployees for the State government and mu- 
nicipal and other subdivisions of the State 
which have adopted the provisions of the 
act^ 

Massachusetts ^ New Jersey * 

3. Commissions that recruit and control em- 
ployees for the State Government ^ and have 
investigative and disciplinary powers over the 
administration of civil service in the political 
subdivisions of the State 

New York Ohio 

^ This commission was abolished by Act of the Connecticut Legis- 
lature in April, 1921, 

2 Optional by referendum vote. 

3 Includes only cities of over 12,000. 

* Includes all subdivisions of the state. 
" Includes the counties within the state. 

195 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

III. Municipal 

I. Commissions established by virtue of a con- 
stitutional provision or State statute manda- 
tory upon all cities 

(a) Commissions subject to supervision 
by State Commission 
New York: 



Albany 


Ithaca 


Oneonta 


Amsterdam 


Jamestown 


Oswego 


Auburn 


Johnstown 


Plattsburgh 


Batavia 


Kingston 


Port Jervis 


Beacon 


X-ackawanna 


Poughkeepsie 


Binghamton 


i:.ittle Falls 


Rensselaer 


Buffalo 


Lockport 


Rochester 


Canandaigua 


Mechanicsville 


Rome 


Cohoes 


Middletown 


Salamanca 


Corning 


Mount Vernon 


Saratoga Springs 


Cortland 


'Newburg 


Schenectady 


Dunkirk 


New Rochelle 


Syracuse 


Elmira 


New York 


Tonawanda 


Fulton 


Niagara Falls 


Troy 


Geneva 


North Tonawanda Utica 


Glens Falls 


Norwich 


Watertown 


Gloversville 


Ogdensburg 


Watervleit 


Hornell 


Olean 


Yonkers 


Hudson 


Oneida 




Ohio: 






Akron 


Bucyrus 


Coshocton 


Alliance 


Cambridge 


Defiance 


Ashland 


Canal Dover 


Delaware ' 


Athens 


Canton 


Delphos 


Barberton 


Chillicothe 


Dover 


Bellaire 


Cincinnati 


East Cleveland 


Bellefontaine 


Circleville 


East Liverpool 


Bowling Green 


Conneaut 
196 


Elyria 





APPENDIX I 




Ohio (continued] 


): 




Findley 


Marion 


St. Marys 


Fostoria 


Martins Ferry 


Steubenville 


Fremont 


Massillon 


Tiffin 


Galion 


Nelsonville 


Troy 


Gallipolis 


Newark 


Urbana 


Glenville 


Newburg 


Van Wert 


Greenville 


New Philadelphia Warren 


Hamilton 


Niles 


Washington Court 


Ironton 


Norwalk 


House 


Jackson 


Norwood 


Wellstone 


Kenton 


Piqua 


Wellsville 


Lancaster 


Plainesville 


Wooster 


Lima 


Portsmouth 


Xenia 


Lorain 


Ravenna 


Youngstown 


Mt. Vernon 


Salem 


Zanesville 


Mansfield 


Sidney 




Marietta 


St. Bernard 




(b) 


Commissions not 


subject to supervi- 




sion by State Commission ® 


Ohio: 






Ashtabula 


Dayton 


Sandusky 


Cleveland 


Lakewood 


Springfield 


Columbus 


Middletown 


Toledo 



2. Commissions established by virtue of an op- 
tional State statute applicable to all cities 

Connecticut : 



Derby 








Illinois : 








Aurora 


Elgin 




Rockford 


Chicago 


Evanston 


L 


Springfield 


East St. Louis 


Peoria 




'Waukegan 


Montana : 








Missoula 








^ Operating under freeholders' 


charters. 








197 





PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

3. Commission established by virtue of a State 
statute mandatory upon cities adopting com- 
mission form of government 

Arkansas : 



Fort Smith 






Iowa: 






Burlington 
Cedar Rapids 
Kansas : 
Anthony 
Coffeyville 
Hutchinson 


Des Moines 

Independence 
Kansas City 
Leavenworth 


Sioux City 

Parsons 

Topeka 

Wichita 


4. Commissions established by virtue of a State 
statute mandatory upon cities of the first or 
second class 

(a) Cities of first class 


Minnesota : 
Minneapolis ^ 






(&) 


Cities of first and second class 


Pennsylvania : 
Allentown 
Altoona 
Chester 
Cotesville 
Easton 
Harrisburg 


Hazleton 

Johnstown 

McKeesport 

Philadelphia 

Pittsburgh 


Reading 
Scranton 
Uniontown 
Wilkes Barre 
Williamsport 


5. Commissions established 
statute mandatory upon 
and second class 


by virtue of a state 
cities of the first 


Wisconsin : 
La Crosse 
Milwaukee 


Oshkosh 
Superior 





' Law makes special reference to the method of appointment and 
salary of the Minneapolis commissioners. See also Minnesota under 7. 

198 



APPENDIX I 



6. Commissions established by virtue of a spe- 
cial statute 
Connecticut : 

New Haven 
Georgia : 

Augusta 
Louisiana : 

Bogalusa New Orleans 

South Carolina : 

Columbia 
Tennessee : 

Memphis Nashville ^ 

Virginia : 

Norfolk « 
West Virginia: 

Bluefield Huntington 



Parkersburgh 



San Francisco 
(city and 
county) 



7. Commissions established by virtue of author- 
ity, constitutional, statutory, or both, to 
frame freeholders' charters ^^ 
California : 

Berkeley " Oakland 

Long Beach Sacramento 

Los Angeles City San Diego 
Colorado : 

Colorado Springs Denver (city and Grand Junction 

county) Pueblo 

Maryland : 
Baltimore 

^ City board of commissioners, the employment board over em- 
ployees in the police, fire, waterworks, and lighting departments. 

® Jurisdiction of commission restricted to employees of fire and 
police departments. 

^° The cities in Ohio that are operating under freeholders' charters 
have been classified under III — 1-2. 

^^ Charter provides for Commission : Commission not established. 

199 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 



Kentucky : 






Covington 






Michigan : 






Detroit 


Grand Rapids 


Kalamazoo 


Saginaw 






Minnesota : 






Duluth 


St. Paul 




Missouri : 






Kansas City 


St. Louis 




Oklahoma : 






Bartlesville 


Muskogee 


Oklahoma City 


Oregon : 






Portland 






Texas 






Houston 


El Paso 




Washington : 






Bellingham ^^ 


Seattle 


Tacoma 


Everett 


Spokane 





8. Other units of government that have estab 
lished employment boards by virtue of a ' 
special statute 

Cook County, Illinois 

Board of Commissioners — Port of New Orleans 

Lincoln Park Commission, Chicago 

South Park Commission, Chicago 

West Park Commission, Chicago 

Los Angeles County, Cal. 

Milwaukee County, Wis. 

^2 Civil service department established through charter amendment. 



APPENDIX 2 

STANDARD CIVIL SERVICE LAWS FOR STATES AND CITIES 

Drafted by National Civil Service Reform League 

Draft of a Civil Service Law for States 

[Applicable with minor or formal modifications or 
those required by constitutional provisions to any state, 
and embodying the essential features of a practical merit 
system of public employment prepared and approved by 
a Committee of the National Civil Service Reform 
League.] 

An Act to regulate the civil service of the state, and 
of each of the civil divisions, counties, municipalities, 
school districts and other subdivisions of the state, in- 
cluding the executive, legislative and judicial branches. 
Be it enacted, etc.. 

Section I. Definitions: The v^ords "Commission" 
and "Commissioner," as used in this Act, shall be 
construed to mean in respect to the state service, and in 
respect to examination and certification of eligibles for 
the offices of state, county, municipal, school district or 
other civil division, the State Civil Service Commission 
or Commissioner; in respect to each of the several 
county services, the County Civil Service Commission 
or Commissioner, and in respect to each of the several 
municipalities, the Municipal Civil Service Commission 
or Commissioner of such municipality, and in respect to 
any other subdivision of the state the Civil Service Com- 
mission or Commissioner thereof. 

Section 2. Division of Service: The civil service 

201 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION : 

of the state and of each of the civil divisions, counties, 
municipahties, school districts, and other subdivisions of 
the state shall be divided into the unclassified and the 
classified service. 

Section 3. Unclassified Service : The unclassified ; 
service shall comprise : , 

(a) Officers ^ elected by the people; 

(b) Judges ^ and receivers,^ special masters in chan- ' 
eery, arbiters, jurors and persons appointed by a court 
to make or conduct any special inquiry of a judicial and .■ 
temporary character ; * 

(c) Officers and employees of a county, municipal- 
ity, school district or other subdivisions of the state, 
having a service in all departments of less than fifty per- 
sons, and an average monthly payroll of less than five ' 
thousand dollars; 

(d) Persons employed by contract to perform a spe- 
cial service where such contract is certified by the Civil j 
Service Commission to be for employment which cannot I 
be performed by persons in the classified service; 

(e) Persons temporarily appointed or designated to 
make or conduct a special inquiry, investigation or ex- ' 
amination, where such appointment or designation is j 
certified by the Civil Service Commission to be for ! 
employment which should not be performed by persons 
in the classified service; and j 

1 The adoption of a short ballot law in conjunction with a civil '■ 
service law will greatly promote governmental efficiency. "Only 
those officers should be elected who have to do with policy making 
and who are important enough to attract and to deserve public 
attention." 

2 In the absence of a constitutional restriction there is no rea- 
son why judges of inferior courts should not be included in the ' 
classified service. 

3 Wherever the school system is under the jurisdiction of a 
school board separate and distinct from the state or municipal gov- 
ernment with a law providing an efficient merit system this section 
may be amended. > 

* See note 10. 

202 



APPENDIX 2 

(/) One Civil Service Commissioner or three Civil 
Service Commissioners ^ as provided in sections 6 and 7 
of this Act. 

Section 4. Classified Service: The classified ser- 
vice shall comprise all other public officers and em- 
ployees, and all offices and places of employment in the 
state service, and in the respective services of the several 
civil divisions, counties, municipalities and other sub- 
divisions of the state, which shall be classified and 
graded in the manner provided for in this Act in the 
rules made in pursuance hereunder, and appointments, 
removals, promotions, transfers, lay-offs, reinstate- 
ments, suspensions, leaves of absence, and changes in 
grade, compensation, or title shall be made and per- 
mitted only as prescribed in this Act and not otherwise. 

Section 5. Continuance of Present Incum- 
bents: Any person holding an office or place in the 
classified service as herein defined at the time this Act 
takes effect shall continue to hold such office or place only 
until laid off or removed for inefficiency by the appoint- 
ing officer or until removed under the provisions of this 
Act.^ Such person shall not be entitled to reinstatement, 
transfer or promotion under the provisions of this Act/ 

^ Will be omitted if the other alternative of Sections 6 and 7 
is adopted. 

^ Where an existing civil service act is to be superseded by 
this Act, the following provisions should be inserted: 

Any person holding an office or place in the classified service 
and graded as herein defined at the time this Act takes effect by 
virtue of a civil service act repealed in whole or in part by this 
Act and who was appointed after test and certification to such office 
or place and has served continuously therein for a period of not 
less than three months shall become a member of the classified service 
created by this Act without original entrance test. 

'^ Persons whose merit and fitness to perform the duties of 
any position in a grade to which they may be certified has not been 
tested cannot be treated or regarded as being as well qualified as 
persons whose merit and fitness have been so tested. They may, at 
best, be competent in the positions in which they are actually em- 
ployed, but to send them into other departments to which their 

203 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Section 6. Appointment of State Commission: 
There is hereby created a State Civil Service Commis- 
sion consisting of one person appointed by the Governor 
to serve until removed under the provisions of this Act. 
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of State Civil 
Service Commissioner and no eligible list prepared as 
provided in this section from which appointment can be 
made, the Governor shall forthwith appoint (a) a person 
who has served within the United States continuously 
for two or more years as a member, secretary or chief 
examiner of a federal, state, county or municipal civil 
service commisison (b) a. persons who has been engaged 
continuously within the United States for two or more 
years in selecting trained employees for positions in- 
volving professional or technical skill; and (c) a person 
who has served for two or more years as a judge of a 
court of record; which three persons shall constitute a 
board of special examiners to conduct an examination 
under the provisions of this Act for the purpose of 
preparing a list of the names, in the order of their 
excellence, of persons eligible to appointment to the 
office of State Civil Service Commissioner.^ The mem- 
grade of service may extend has been found disastrous. No merit 
principle demands their retention in the service. Their quaHfications 
are not definitely known and the fact that they obtained their appoint- 
ments largely if not solely for political reasons makes them a source 
of discord when sent under the guise of merit employees to appoint- 
ing officers who may have vacancies to fill. This Act leaves such 
persons where it finds them. It reserves only the right to remove 
such of them as may be demonstrated to be inefficient after the act 
goes into effect. If laid off by the officers under whom they serve 
they are separated from the service and cannot claim the right to re- 
instatement. The shock to the service which wholesale or sudden 
change in the character of their tenure might occasion is avoided 
and opportunity to take the tests which will give them tenure during 
efficiency is afforded. In such tests the experience which such per- 
sons should, if competent, have acquired gives them an undoubted 
advantage over other applicants. 

8 Three provisions are proposed to govern the appointment of the 
civil service commission in the state service and in cities of over 
250,000 inhabitants. 

204 



APPENDIX 2 

bers of said board shall serve until an eligible list has 
been established and appointment made therefrom. 
Two members of said board shall constitute a quorum 
for the transaction of business. Said board shall, within 
thirty days after its members have been appointed, 
proceed to advertise and hold an examination under the 
provisions of this Act. The method of examination and 
the manner of preparing a resulting eligible list and 
certifying to the Governor therefrom by said board of 
examiners and making appointments in accordance with 
such certification by the Governor shall be the same as 
prescribed for other examinations, certifications and 
appointments under this Act, and the said board shall 
have the same powers and obligations in respect thereto 
as those vested in or imposed upon the State Civil 
Service Commission. Whenever a vacancy exists in the 
office of State Civil Service Commissioner, the Governor 
shall forthwith appoint the person standing highest upon 
the list of persons eligible for appointment to said ofhce. 

Section 6. Appointment of State Commission: 
There is hereby created a state civil service commission 
consisting of three persons appointed by the Governor to 
serve one for two years, one for four years and one for 
six years. Each alternate year thereafter the Governor 
shall appoint one person as the successor of the member 
whose term shall expire, to serve for six years. Any 
vacancy shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired 
term. The Governor may remove a member of the state 
civil service commission under the provisions of section 
12 of this Act. 

Section 6. Appointment of State Commission: 
There is hereby created a State Civil Service Commis- 
sion, consisting of three persons, one of whom shall be 
appointed by the Governor to serve during the term of 
office of the Governor or until removed under the pro- 

205 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

visions of this Act. The other two members of the State 
Commission shall be in the classified service and shall 
possess the same powers and authority as the third 
member. Two members of the State Civil Service 
Commission shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
action of business. Whenever there is a vacancy in the 
office of State Civil Service Commissioner in the classi- 
fied service and no eligible list prepared as provided in 
this section, from which appointment can be made, the 
Governor shall forthwith appoint (a) a person who has 
served within the United States continuously for two 
or more years as a member, secretary or chief examiner 
of a federal, state, county or municipal civil service 
commission; (b) a person who has been engaged con- 
tinuously within the United States for two or more years 
in selecting trained employees for positions involving 
professional or technical skill; and (c) a person who has 
served for two or more years as a judge of a court of 
record; which three persons shall constitute a board of 
special examiners to conduct an examination under the 
provisions of this Act for the purpose of preparing a 
list of the names, in the order of their relative excel- 
lence, of persons eligible to appointment to the office of 
State Civil Service Commissioner in the classified ser- 
vice. The members of said board shall serve until an 
eligible Hst has been established and appointment made 
therefrom. Two members of said board shall constitute 
a quorum for the transaction of business. Said board ^ 
shall, within thirty days after its members have been 
appointed, proceed to advertise and hold an examination 
under the provisions of this Act. The method of 
examination and the manner of preparing a resulting 

^It should be noted that this board does its work under the 
penal provisions of sections 27 and 29 by examination prescribed 
m Its general features in section 23, and that papers are open to 
public inspection. These provisions should give reasonable assurance 
of honest and intelligent examinations. 

206 



APPENDIX 2 

eligible list and certifying to the Governor therefrom by- 
said board of examiners, and making appointments in 
accordance with such certification by the Governor shall 
be the same as prescribed for other examinations, certi- 
fications and appointments under this Act, and the said 
board shall have the same powers and obligations in 
respect thereto as those vested in or imposed upon the 
State Civil Service Commission. Whenever a vacancy 
exists in the ofhce of State Civil Service Commissioner 
in the classified service, the Governor shall forthwith 
appoint the person standing highest upon the list of 
persons eligible for appointment to said office until all 
such vacancies are filled. 

Section 7. Appointment of Local Commissions: 
In each of the counties, municipalities, school districts 
and other subdivisions of the state there is hereby 
created a Civil Service Commission to consist of one 
person appointed by the chief appointing authority of 
such county, municipality, school district or other sub- 
division of the state, to serve until removed under the 
provisions of this Act. Whenever a vacancy exists in 
the ofhce of Civil Service Commissioner the chief 
appointing authority shall make rec[uisition upon the 
State Civil Service Commission, and the said Commis- 
sion shall certify to such authority the name and address 
of the person standing highest upon the list of persons 
eligible for appointment to said ofhce, and the appointing 
authority shall forthwith appoint the person so certified 
by the said Commission therefor, ^*^ 

^^ Attention is called to the administration of the merit system in 
New Jersey and Massachusetts, where State Commissions have direct 
control of the services of counties and municipalities. Such an ad- 
ministration of the law has brought about stability and uniformity 
of enforcement in these states. If in the interest of simplicity, effi- 
ciency and economy of government, some such consolidation should 
be desirable, the provisions relating to municipal, county and school 
district commissions should be eliminated. If this plan is adopted sub- 
division (c) of section 2 should be eliminated. The committee pre- 

207 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Section 7. Appointment of Local Commissions: 
In each of the municipalities of the state having a popu- 
lation of 250,000 or more persons as shown by the last 
census taken by the United States, there is hereby 
created a Municipal Civil Service Commission to consist 
of three persons, one of whom shall be appointed by the 
chief appointing authority of such municipality to serve 
during the term of office of the appointing authority or 
until removed under the provisions of this Act. The 
other two members of the Municipal Civil Service Com- 
mission shall be in the classified service and shall possess 
the same powers and authority as the third member. 
Two members of the Civil Service Commission shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Munic- 
ipal Civil Service Commissioner in the classified service 
the chief appointing authority shall make requisition 
upon the State Civil Service Commission and the said 
commission shall certify to such authority the name and 
address of the person standing highest upon the list of 
persons eligible for appointment to said office and the 
appointing authority shall forthwith appoint the person 
so certified by the said commission therefor. 

In municipalities having a population of less than 
250,000 persons, as shown by the last census, and in all 
counties, school districts and other subdivisions of the 
state there is hereby created a Civil Service Commission, 
to consist of one person who shall be in the classified 
service and who shall after examination and certification 

sents as a section of the bill a provision for a state commission with 
local commissions under the jurisdiction and control of the state board, 
the state commission to have veto power over all changes in the rules 
of the municipal commission. Opportunity should be given also to 
municipalities which have no civil service law to exercise the option 
of accepting the direct control of the state commission. In some 
states where the home rule sentiment is strong the civil service is 
recognized as a state function and the state commission administers 
the merit system directly. 

208 



APPENDIX 2 

as above provided be appointed by the chief appointing 
authority of such municipality, county, school, district, 
or other subdivision, to serve until removed under the 
provisions of this Act. 

Section 8. Acting Commissioner in Certain 
Cases : In case of death, resignation, removal, absence, 
or incapacity of a Civil Service Commissioner, the chief 
examiner subordinate to such Commissioner shall per- 
form the duties of such Commissioner until such absence 
or incapacity shall cease, or until an appointment under 
the provisions of this Act shall be made. Such acting 
Civil Service Commissioner shall have all the powers 
of a Civil Service Commissioner. 

Section 9. Commissioners to Hold No Other 
Office: No Civil Service Commissioner shall hold any 
other lucrative office or employment under the United 
States, the State, or any county, municipality or other 
subdivision thereof. 

Section 10. Salary and Expenses: The State 
Civil Service Commissioner and each Municipal Civil 
Service Commissioner in municipalities having a popu- 
lation of five hundred thousand or more inhabitants 

shall receive an annual salary of not less than 

thousand dollars.^^ Each Civil Service Commissioner 
shall be paid his necessary traveling expenses incurred 
in the discharge of his official duty. It shall be the duty 
of the respective financial authorities of the state, 
counties, municipalities, school districts and subdivisions 
of the state to make adequate provision to enable the 
Commission to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

Section 11. Use of Public Buildings : It shall be 
the duty of all officers of the state and of the several 
counties, municipalities, school districts and other sub- 

^1 The salary of such Civil Service Commissioner should not 
be less than that of the head of a state or city department. 

209 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

divisions of the state, to allow the reasonable use of 
public buildings and rooms and to heat and light the 
same for the holding of any examinations or investiga- 
tions provided for by this Act, and in all proper ways to 
facilitate the work of any of the Civil Service Com- 
missions. 

Section 12. Removal of Commissioner: No Civil 
Service Commissioner shall be removed except for 
cause, upon written charges and after an opportunity 
to be heard ia his own defense. Such charges may be 
filed by any citizen or taxpayer. If made against a State 
Civil Service Commissioner, they shall be filed with the 
person holding the office of chief justice ^^ of the highest 
court of the state. If made against any other Commis- 
sioner, they shall be filed with the State Commission. 
The charges shall be heard, investigated, and deter- 
mined by the person holding the office of chief justice, 
as aforesaid, or by some person or board ^^ appointed 
by him for that purpose, if made against a State Com- 
missioner, and by the State Civil Service Commission, 
if made against any other Commissioner. The findings 
and decision upon such hearing shall be final, and shall 
be certified to the appointing authority and forthwith 
enforced by such authority. The person, board, or State 
Civil Service Commission, as the case may be, hereby 
authorized to hold such hearing, shall have power to 
administer oaths and to compel the attendance and testi- 
mony of witnesses and the production of books and 
papers. Each person appointed to hold such hearing 
under this section shall receive the compensation pro- 
vided by law for special examiners, referees or similar 
officers. No person shall be eligible for such an appoint- 

^ 12 Constitutional prohibitions in some states may prevent the 
chief justice to act as a trial officer. 

^2 In states where there are official referees or other correspond- 
ing officers, it is recommended that three such persons shall be ap- 
pointed. 

210 



APPENDIX 2 

ment unless at least ten years theretofore he has been 
called to the bar of a court of record within the state. 

Section 13. Continuance of Present Incum- 
bents: Records: Any person holding the office of 
Civil Service Commissioner on the date this Act takes 
effect, shall continue to hold such office as a temporary 
appointee only until such time as a regular appointment 
thereto under the provision of this Act can be made. 
Public records of any Civil Service Commission existing 
on the date this Act takes effect shall be delivered to the 
corresponding Commission created until this Act, and 
all lawful eligible lists, acts, and proceedings of said 
Commission shall remain in full force and effect. 

Section 14. Jurisdiction : The State Civil Service 
Commission shall have jurisdiction over all persons and 
positions in the classified service of the state; each 
County Civil Service Commission, and each municipal, 
or other Civil Service Commission shall have jurisdic- 
tion over all persons and positions classified in the 
service of their respective counties, municipalities, or 
other subdivisions of the state. 

Section 15. Investigations: Each Commission 
shall investigate the enforcement and effect of this Act 
and of the rules made pursuant hereto, the conduct of 
the employees in the classified service, the methods of 
administration therein and the nature, tenure, and com- 
pensation of all offices and places in the service. It shall 
investigate the efficiency of all officers and employees 
and all groups of officers and employees in the classified 
service, and shall communicate to the officer, board, or 
other authority in charge of any department, institution, 
or office, its findings with recommendations for in- 
creased efficiency and economy therein. 

In the course of any investigation or hearing under 
the provisions of this Act each Commissioner and each 

211 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

person or board appointed by said Commission to make 
any such investigation or to conduct any such hearing, 
may administer oaths, and shall have power to secure by 
subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and 
the production of books and papers. 

Section i6. Attendance of Witnesses; Fees; 
False Oaths: Any person who shall be served with a 
subpoena to appear and testify or to produce books and 
papers issued in the course of an investigation conducted 
under any provision of this Act who shall disobey or 
neglect to obey any such subpoena shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and shall, on conviction, be punished as 
provided in this Act. The fees of witnesses for attend- 
ance and travel shall be the same as fees of witnesses 
before the nisi prius courts, and shall be paid from the 
appropriation for the expenses of the Commission. Any 
judge of a court of record, either in term, time or vaca- 
tion, upon application of any such Commissioner or 
person or board, shall compel the attendance of wit- 
nesses, the production of books and papers, and the 
giving of testimony before the Commission, or before 
any such commissioners, investigating board or person 
by attachment, or contempt, or otherwise, in the same 
manner as the production of evidence shall be compelled 
before said court. Every person who, having taken an 
oath or made affirmation in the course of any investiga- 
tion or hearing under the provisions of this Act, shall 
willfully and knowingly testify or declare falsely, shall 
be guilty of perjury and upon conviction shall be pun- 
ished accordingly. No person shall be compelled to give 
self-incriminating testimony. 

Section 17. Standards and Grades: The Commis- 
sion shall classify and grade all positions in the classified 
service. The Commission shall ascertain and record the 
duties of each position in the service, and wherever it 

212 



APPENDIX 2 

appears that two or more positions in a service have 
duties which are substantially similar in respect to the 
authority, responsibility and character of work required 
in the performance thereof, they shall be placed in the 
same grade, which the Commission shall designate by a 
title indicative of such duties. Grades having duties of 
the same general nature and in the same Hne of promo- 
tion shall be placed in the same class, and the lines of 
promotion definitely specified. For each grade, the 
Commission shall prescribe a standard maximum and 
minimum salary or rate of pay and shall report to the 
appropriation authorities the rate being paid for analo- 
gous service in both public and private employment, 
together with other information pertaining to a proper 
rate of pay for the service over which the Commission 
has jurisdiction. The Commission shall by rule pre- 
scribe the minimum period of service in the grade re- 
quired before a salary may be advanced or increased 
and a minimum standard of eflficiency requisite for such 
salary advancement or increase. The lowest salary or 
rate of pay provided for any position in the grade shall 
constitute the grade pay and no person in such grade 
shall receive pay in excess of the grade pay unless he is 
certified by the Commission as having served the period 
required by said rule with an efficiency rating given by 
the Commission equivalent to the minimum standard of 
efficiency required thereby. No person shall be paid 
an amount greater than the maximum salary or rate 
of pay prescribed by the Commission for the grade in 
which he serves. Nothing in this Act shall prevent the 
authorities charged by law with appropriations for 
salaries from changing the pay of all positions in a 
grade. 

Salary advancement or increase shall be made within 
the several grades only in the order of highest efficiency 
combined with relative seniority as shcfwn by the records 

213 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

of the Commission. Where there are no records of 
efficiency covering a period of continuous service for six 
months or more a minimum standard of efficiency dur- 
ing such period shall be presumed. 

Section i8. Certification of Payrolls: When- 
ever a position in the classified service is graded and the 
rate of pay therefor prescribed as provided in this Act, 
no treasurer, auditor, comptroller or other officer of the 
state or of any of the counties, municipalities or other 
subdivisions of the state shall approve the payment of 
or be in any manner concerned in paying, auditing, or 
approving any salary, wage or other compensation for 
services to any person holding such position unless a 
payroll, estimate or account of such salary, wage or 
other compensation containing the names of the persons 
to be paid, a statement of the amount to be paid each 
such person and the services on account of which the 
same is paid bearing the certificate of the Commission 
that the persons named in such payroll, estimate or 
account have been appointed or employed in pursuance 
of law and of the rules made by the Commission under 
the provisions of this Act and have complied with the 
terms of this Act and of the rules of the commission 
when required so to do, shall have been filed with him. 
Before making any such certificate the Commission 
shall investigate the nature of each item of such payroll, 
estimate or account, and if it shall ascertain that the 
provisions of the law in respect to any such item have 
not been strictly complied with it shall refuse to certify 
such item. 

The Commission shall refuse to certify the pay of 
any public officer or employee who shall willfully or 
through culpable negligence violate or fail to comply 
with the provisions of this Act or of the rules of the 
Commission. 

214 



APPENDIX 2 

Section 19. Efficiency Standards : The Commis- 
sion shall by rule prescribe standards of efficiency for 
each grade of the service and for examinations therefor, 
and it shall make and keep a record of the relative effi- 
ciency of all persons in each grade. It shall provide by 
rule methods for ascertaining and verifying the facts 
from which such records of relative efficiency shall be 
made, which shall be uniform for each grade. 

Section 20. Rules and Powers : The Commission 
shall make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act, 
including among other things rules for improving and 
regulating the classified service by this Act for the 
classification of all positions in the classified service, for 
grading positions in the service, for establishing uni- 
form salaries in each grade, for examinations uniform 
for each grade, for appointments, removals, promotions, 
transfers, lay-offs, reinstatements, suspensions, leaves 
of absence, changes in compensation or title, for promot- 
ing efficiency and economy in the service, for defining 
cause or causes for removal from the service, provided 
that nothing herein shall limit or affect the power of 
suspension and removals granted by section 25 of this 
Act, for regulating the certification of the payroll and 
for maintaining and keeping records of the efficiency 
of persons, both as individuals and in groups, holding 
positions in the service. The Commission may at any 
time authorize the transfer of any employee in the classi- 
fied service from one position to another position in the 
same grade and not otherwise, provided, however, that 
persons who have not been examined and certified under 
the provisions of this Act shall not be entitled to trans- 
fer. The Commission may from time to time make 
changes in such rules, provided, however, that such rules 
shall not be changed by the Commission at the meeting 
at which such action is proposed and no final action shall 
be taken thereon until after a public hearing, of which 

215 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

the Commission shall give five days' public notice. All 
rules made as herein provided and all changes therein 
shall forthwith be printed for distribution by said Com- 
mission. Said Commission shall give public notice of 
the place or places where such rules may be obtained, 
and in each such publication shall be specified the date, 
not less than ten days subsequent to the date of such 
publication, when such rules of changes therein shall 
take effect. 

Section 21, Charges Against Local Commis- 
sions: Whenever the State Civil Service Commission 
shall have reason to believe that cause exists for the 
removal of any other Civil Service Commissioner it shall 
institute an investigation, and if it shall find any such 
cause shall file charges or cause the same to be filed 
under the provisions of Section 12 of this Act. 

Section 22. Appointments : 

(a) Whenever a position in the classified service 
becomes vacant, the appointing authority, if it de- 
sires to fill the vacancy, shall make requisition upon 
the Commission for the name and address of a per- 
son eligible for appointment thereto. The Commis- 
sion shall certify to the appointing authority the 
name and address of the person ^* having the highest 
standing based upon examination, rating and senior- 
ity in service within the grade in which said position 
is granted, provided such person has been previously 
examined as provided in this Act for a position in 
said grade, and has been separated from the service 

^*The state constitution in New York has been held to require 
the certification of more than one name for each vacancy and in 
New York, Massachusetts, the Federal service and frequently else- 
where the rule for certifying not more than three names is in force 
and may be considered as an alternative provision where local con- 
ditions demand it. The fallowing may be substituted: The Com- 
mission shall certify to the appointing authority the name of one of 
the three persons having the highest standing, etc. 

216 



APPENDIX 2 

without fault or delinquency on his part at any time 
within two years prior to the date of such requisi- 
tion, and provided such person is not actually and 
regularly employed in said grade on the date of such 
requisition. If there is no such person eligible for 
reinstatement, the Commission shall certify to the 
appointing authority the name and address of the 
person standing highest upon the list of eligibles 
resulting from an examination for the position in 
said grade. 

(b) If there is no person eligible for reinstate- 
ment, and no such list of eligibles, the Commission 
may in its discretion certify to the appointing author- 
ity the name and address of a person for temporary 
appointment, with or without examination, and the 
appointing authority shall forthwith appoint said 
person from day to day not to exceed ninety days 
pending examination. The Commission shall forth- 
with proceed to hold an examination as herein pro- 
vided for such grade whenever such temporary ap- 
pointment is made. If after an examination is held 
no eligible list shall result the Commission shall 
forthwith proceed to hold another examination for 
such grade and may then authorize the continuance 
of said temporary appointment but not otherwise. 

(c) Whenever requisition is so made, or when- 
ever a position is held by a temporary appointee and 
a reinstatement list or eligible list for the grade of 
such position exists, the Commission shall forthwith 
certify the name and address of the person eligible 
for appointment to the appointing authority and said 
appointing authority shall forthwith appoint the per- 
son so certified to said position. No person so cer- 
tified shall be laid off, suspended, given leave of 
absence from duty, transferred or reduced in pay- 
or grade except for reasons which will promote the 

217 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

good of the service, specified in writing, and after 
an opportunity to be heard by the Commission, and 
then only with its consent and approval. 

(d) Appointments shall be regarded as taking 
effect upon the date when the person certified for 
appointment reports for duty. A person tendered 
certification may waive or refuse certification in 
writing for a period, for reasons satisfactory to the 
Commission, and such waiver or refusal shall not 
affect the standing or right to certification to the 
first vacancy in the grade occurring after the expira- 
tion of such period. If no such waiver or refusal is 
filed in writing with the Commissioner, and if after 
one waiver had been filed and the period thereof has 
expired and a person tendered certification fails to 
report for duty forthwith after tender of certifica- 
tion has been made, his name may at the discretion 
of the Commission be stricken from all lists for such 
grade. Acceptance or refusal of temporary appoint- 
ment or of an appointment to a position exempt from 
the provisions of this Act shall not affect the stand- 
ing of any person on the list for permanent ap- 
pointment. 

(e) No person shall be eligible for appointment 
to any positions in the classified service unless he 
shall have obtained as a result of an examination for 
appointment within the grade such minimum mark , 
as may be fixed by the Commission for any subject ! 
or part of the examination, and a general average 
upon all subjects or parts of such examination of not 
less than the minimum fixed by the rules of the Com- 
mission. 

(/) Before an appointment or promotion is 
made complete the person certified by the Commis- 
sion shall serve a period of probation not to exceed 
six months, during which period a probationer may 

218 



APPENDIX 2 

be discharged or reduced with the consent of the 
Commission. 

Section 23. Examinations: 

(a) All original entrance examinations shall be 
public, competitive and free to all persons who may- 
be lawfully appointed to any position within the 
grade for which such examinations are held, with 
limitations, specified in the rules of the Commission, 
as to residence, age, sex, health, habits, moral char- 
acter, and prerequisite qualifications to perform the 
duties of such positions. Promotion examinations 
shall be public, competitive, and free only to all per- 
sons examined and certified under the provisions of 
this Act and who have held a position for one year 
or more in a grade previously declared by the Com- 
mission to involve the performance of duties which 
tend to fit the incumbent for the performance of duty 
in the grade for which the promotion examination is 
held. In promotion examinations efficiency and 
seniority in service shall form part of such examina- 
tion. The Commission shall determine in filling 
positions if promotion examinations are practicable 
and hold open competitive examinations if the ser- 
vice conditions require. 

(b) The Commission shall hold promotion ex- 
aminations for each superior grade of service when- 
ever there is an inferior grade in the same class, the 
duties of which directly tend to fit the incumbents 
thereof for the performance of the duties of the 
superior grade. A person who has served less than 
one year in a lower grade shall not be eligible for a 
promotion examination. If less than two persons 
submit themselves for a promotion examination, or 
if after such examination is held, all applicants fail 
to attain a general average of not less than the 
minimum standing fixed by the rules of the Commis- 

219 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

sion, it shall forthwith hold an original entrance ex- 
amination and may at any time within six months 
certify from the eligible list resulting therefrom. 

(c) All examinations shall be practical in their 
character, and shall consist only of subjects which 
will fairly determine the capacity of the persons ex- 
amined to perform the duties of the position to which 
appointment is to be made, and may include exami- 
nations of physical fitness or of manual skill. No 
credit shall be allowed for service rendered under 
a temporary appointment. No question in any exam- 
ination shall relate to political opinions or affiliations. 
No questions which are misleading or unfair or in 
the nature of catch questions shall be asked. The 
Commission shall control all examinations and may 
designate special examiners to conduct and hold such 
examinations as the Commission may direct and to 
make return and report thereof to it. The Commis- 
sion may at any time substitute any other person in 
the place of any person so designated, and may itself 
act as such examining authority without designating 
special examiners.^^ As many examinations shall be 
held as may be necessary to provide eligibles for 
each grade of the service, and to meet all requisitions 
and to fill all positions held by temporary appointees. 
From the return and report of the examiners, or 
from the examinations made by the Commission, it 
shall prepare a list of eligibles for each grade of the 
persons who shall attain such minimum mark as may 
be fixed by the Commission for the service parts 
of such examination, and whose general average 
standing upon the examination for such grade is not 
less than the minimum fixed by the rules of the Com- 

^5 In examinations for grades having duties involving a profes- 
sion, vocation or trade generally recognized as a specialty, at least 
one of the examiners should be a person with practical experience 
in and knowledge of such specialty. 

220 



APPENDIX 2 

mission, and who may lawfully be appointed. Such 
persons shall take rank upon the list in the order of 
their relative excellence as determined by the exam- 
ination without reference to priority of time of ex- 
amination. The markings of all examinations shall 
be completed and the resulting eligible list posted 
within ninety days from the date of the examination. 
The Commission shall cancel such portion of any list 
as has been in force for more than two years, but 
not otherwise. 

(d) The markings and examination papers of 
each candidate shall be open to his own inspection, 
and the markings and examination papers of all per- 
sons upon any list of eligibles shall be open to public 
inspection within ten days after an eligible list has 
been prepared. An error in the marking of any ex- 
amination other than an error of judgment, if called 
to the attention of the Commission within one month 
after the posting of an eligible list resulting from 
such examination, shall be corrected by it ; provided, 
however, that such correction shall not invalidate 
any certification or appointment previously made. 
Notice of the time, place, and general scope of every 
examination and of the duties, pay and experience 
advantageous or requisite for all positions in the 
grade for which the examination is to be held shall 
be given by the Commission by publication at least 
once a week for two weeks preceding the examination 
in a newspaper of general circulation published in 
the county or municipality in which the examination 
is to be held. Such further notice shall be given as 
the Commission may prescribe. 

Section 24. Reports to the Commission: Imme- 
diate report in writing shall be given to the Commission 
by the appointing authority and by such other persons as 
may be designated by the Commission, of all appoint- 

221 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

ments, reinstatements, vacancies, absences, or other 
matters affecting the status of positions or the per- 
formance of duties of officers or employees classified 
under the provisions of this Act and all such notices 
shall be prepared in the manner and form prescribed by 
the Commission. 

Section 25. Removal: No person holding an office 
or place in the classified service, except Civil Service 
Commissioners and persons laid off from duty whom this 
Act provides shall not be entitled to reinstatement, shall 
be removed or discharged except for cause, upon written 
charges and after an opportunity to be heard in his own 
defense. Such charges may be filed by any superior 
officer, any citizen, or taxpayer, and shall within thirty 
days after filing be heard, investigated and determined 
by the Commission or by some person or board ap- 
pointed by the Commission to hear, investigate and 
determine the same/® 

The finding and decision of the Commission, or of 
such person or board when approved by the Commission, 
shall be final and shall be certified to the appointing 
authority and shall be forthwith enforced by such au- 
thority. 

Nothing herein contained shall limit the power of 
any superior officer to suspend a subordinate for a rea- 
sonable period not exceeding fifteen days pending hear- 
ing and decision. Every such suspension shall be 
without pay; provided, however, that the Commission 
shall have authority to investigate every such suspen- 
sion, and in case of its disapproval it shall have power 
to restore pay to the employee so suspended. 

Nothing herein contained shall limit the power of any 
appointing officer to suspend or dismiss a subordinate; 



i'5 The composition of the removal board should be similar to 
that of a board of examination for a position involving a profession ] 
(see note 15). 

222 

I 



APPENDIX 2 

for any cause which will promote the efficiency of the 
service, upon filing with the Commission written reasons 
for such action and giving the person whose removal is 
sought reasonable notice of the same, and of any charges 
preferred against him, and an opportunity to answer 
the same in writing, and to file with the Commission 
affidavits in support of such answer. But no trial shall 
be required except in the discretion of the officer making 
the removal. All papers filed in the case shall be public 
records. The Commission may reinstate an officer or 
employee so removed only in case it appears after a 
proper hearing that the removal was made for political 
or religious reasons.^'^ 

Orders or directions given by a superior to a subordi- 
nate, when contrary to a provision of law or to a general 
rule or order lawfully made, shall be given in writing; 
and in proceedings under this section it shall be no de- 
fense or excuse for a forbidden act or for an omission to 
observe the law or any such rule or order that the act 
or omission was directed by a superior, unless a written 
direction or order from such superior to that effect is 
proved. 

Section 26. Reports by the Commission: The 
Commission shall investigate and report annually to the 
appointing authority concerning the administrative 
needs of the service, the personnel and positions in the 
service, and the compensation provided therefor, for 
examinations held by the Commission, the appointments 
made, efficiency ratings and removals in the Civil 
Service, the operation of the rules of the Commission 
and recommendations for promoting efficiency and 
economy in the service, with details of expenditure and 
progress of work. The appointing authority may re- 

^■^ The Chicago, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York Associations 
have approved the principle granting to the Civil Service Commis- 
sion exclusive jurisdiction over removals, which would be accom- 
plished by striking out this paragraph. 

223 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

quire a report from said Commission at any time re- 
specting any matter within the scope of its duties here- 
under. The records of the Commission shall be open to 
public inspection by any citizen under reasonable super- 
vision. 

Section 27. Abuses and Frauds Prohibited : No 
person shall willfully or corruptly make any false mark 
or report upon any examination. No person shall, by 
himself or in cooperation with one or more persons, will- 
fully or corruptly defeat, deceive, or obstruct any person 
in respect to his or her right of test under the provisions 
of this Act or falsely mark, grade, estimate, or report 
upon the test or standing of any person tested here- 
under, or aid in so doing, or furnish to any person, ex- 
cept in answer to inquiries of the Commission, any 
special information for the purpose of either improving 
or injuring the rating of any such person for appoint- 
ment or employment. No applicant shall deceive the 
Commission for the purpose of improving his chances 
or prospects for appointment. No person shall solicit, 
orally or by letter, and no public officer or employee 
shall receive or be in any manner concerned in the re- 
ceiving or soliciting of any money or valuable thing 
from any officer or employee holding a position in the 
classified service for any political party or purpose what- 
soever. No person shall solicit, pay, give, or receive in 
any public building any money or valuable thing for any 
partisan political purpose whatsoever. No person shall 
use or promise to use his influence or official authority 
to secure any appointment or prospect of appointment 
to any position classified under this Act as a reward or 
return for personal or partisan political service. No 
public officer or employee shall, by means of threats or 
coercion induce or attempt to induce any person holding 
a position in the classified service to resign his position 
or to take a leave of absence from duty or to waive any 

224 



APPENDIX 2 

of his rights under this Act. No person about to be 
appointed to any position classified shall sign or execute 
a resignation dated or undated in advance of such ap- 
pointment. Any such resignation shall be of no effect. 

Section 28. Political Activity : No person hold- 
ing an office or place in the classified service under the 
provisions of this Act shall seek or accept election, nomi- 
nation, or appointment as an officer of a political club or 
organization or take an active part in a political cam- 
paign or serve as a member of a committee of any such 
club or organization or circulate or seek signatures to 
any petition provided for by any primary or election law 
or act as a worker at the polls, or distribute badges, 
colors, or indicia favoring or opposing a candidate for 
election or nomination to a public office, whether federal, 
state, county, or municipal, or permit the use of his 
name for nomination or election to any public office; 
provided however, that nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to prohibit or prevent any such officer or 
employee from becoming or continuing to be a member 
of a political club or organization or from attendance 
upon political meetings, from enjoying entire freedom 
from all interference in casting his vote and from seek- 
ing or accepting election or appointment to the office of 
public school director or of member of a board of educa- 
tion or of member of a library board. 

Section 29. Penalties: Any person who shall 
willfully or through culpable negligence violate any of 
the provisions of this Act, or of the rules of the Com- 
mission, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on 
conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than 
$50.00 and not more than $3,000.00, or by imprison- 
ment for a term not exceeding six months, or by both 
such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the 
court. 

225 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Section 30. What Ofi^ic^rs To Pross^cuTe:: Prose- 
cution for violations of this Act may be instituted 
either by the Attorney General, the State's Attorney, or 
other public prosecuting officer for the county in which 
the offense, or some part thereof, is alleged to have been 
committed, or at the election of the Civil Service Com- 
mission by special counsel appointed by it. Such a 
prosecution if begun by a public prosecutor shall be con- 
ducted and controlled by him unless and until his term 
of office shall expire or upon his request some other 
person shall be substituted as prosecuting officer in the 
particular case. 

Whenever the Attorney General, the State's At- 
torney or other prosecuting officer for the county inj 
which an ofifense under this Act is alleged to have been! 
committed shall refuse to prosecute any person alleged 
to have committed such an offense, or shall fail to ; 
prosecute such person after the lapse of thirty days after | 
the alleged offense is brought to his attention, then any ; 
taxpayer may apply to any judge of a nisi prius court ; 
of such county for the appointment of a special attorney 
to conduct a prosecution of such person or persons, and j 
upon such application the court may appoint some com- ; 
petent attorney to prosecute the person or persons al- 
leged to have committed the offense, and the special at- ' 
torney so appointed shall have the same power and au- • 
thority in relation to any such prosecution as the Attor- ; 
ney General, the State's Attorney or other prosecuting ■ 
officer would or might have had if such special attorney ' 
had not been appointed. ; 

Section 31. Civil Suits: It shall be the duty of 
the Commission to begin and conduct all civil suits which 
may be necessary for the proper enforcement of this 
Act and of the rules of the Commission and to defend 
all civil suits which may be brought against the Com- 
mission. The Commission shall be represented in such 

226 



APPENDIX 2 

suits by the chief legal officer of the state, municipality 
or other subdivision of the state, but said Commission 
may in any case be represented by special counsel ap- 
pointed by it. Any taxpayer of the state may maintain 
an action in any court of record to recover for the treas- 
ury any sums paid contrary to the provisions of this 
Act or of the rules of the Commission from the person 
or persons authorizing such payment, or to enjoin the 
person or persons from making such payment, or 
to enjoin the Commission from attaching its certifi- 
cate to a payroll in violation of the provisions of this 
Act. 

Section 32. Re^pi^ai, : All laws or parts of laws in 
so far as they are inconsistent with this Act or any of 
the provisions thereof, are hereby repealed. 

Draft of a Civil Service Law for Cities 

[This draft of a civil service law for cities was prepared to meet 
a demand in the work of the National Civil Service Reform League. 
One of the most important branches of that work is the extension of 
the merit system in state and municipal government. From all parts 
of the country requests are received at the office of the League for 
forms of civil service laws applicable to cities of varying sizes. In re- 
sponse to these requests the League has furnished copies of the laws 
in force in other cities, but these are in many instances the result of 
a building process and of frequent amendment, while in other cases 
they are distinctly inadequate. The laws applying to large cities con- 
tain provisions which are either entirely unnecessary or far too com- 
plicated for the small city. There was urgent need for a simple draft 
containing the most essential provisions for an effective merit sys- 
tem and suited to the small city, to which additions could be made 
to meet local conditions and the demands of a larger service. 

The Committee disavows any purpose of drawing a model or ideal 
civil service law. It has purposely omitted those provisions which 
may be regarded as in the experimental stage, and has adopted those 
only that have been proved of value by experience. The work has 
been done by comparing existing civil service laws, selecting from 
them the provisions that are essential, and reducing these to the 
simplest language. As new lines of activity followed by civil service 
commissions prove their value, provision will be made for them in 
future drafts. As it stands we are prepared to show existing prece- 
dents for every provision contained in it and the actual working 
of these provisions.] 

227 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Section i. The mayor ^ shall appoint three persons 
as civil service commissioners to serve one for two years, 
one for four years and one for six years. Each 
alternate year thereafter, the mayor ^ shall appoint one 
person as the successor of the member whose term shall 
expire, to serve for six years.^ Any vacancy shall be 
filled by the mayor ^ for the unexpired term. Not more 
than two of the members shall be adherents of the same 
political party and no member shall hold any other 
salaried public office. The mayor ^ may remove a com- 
missioner during his term of office only upon stating in 
writing the reasons for removal and allowing him an 
opportunity to be heard in his own defense. 

Sec. 2. The commission shall appoint a chief exam- 
iner, at an annual salary of $ ,* who shall also 

act as secretary. This position shall be in the competi- 
tive class. The Commission may appoint such other 
subordinates as may, by appropriation, be provided for. 

Sec. 3. The civil service of the city is hereby 
divided into the unclassified and the classified service. 
The unclassified service shall comprise : 

(a) All officers elected by the people. 

(b) All heads of principal executive departments.^ 

1 Or "council" in those commission cities in which the appointing 
power is lodged in the council. 

2 If the term of the mayor is one year, the terms of the commis- 
sioners should be three years, one expiring each year. 

^ Or, in commission cities where the council is the appointing 
power, "the council by unanimous vote." 

*This amount should be stated but will vary according to the 
size of the city. In all cases it should be made large enough to secure 
the services of a competent and high-grade man. 

^ Or, in commission cities "all members of executive boards," e. g., 
the school board. 

This exception of heads of principal executive departments is 
universal at present; but it is suggested there should be a clear dis- 
tinction between "supervisors" of a department, and expert heads 
entrusted with detailed administration. The supervisors may well 
be political, either ejected, as under the commission form of gov- 
ernment, or, under other forms, appointed \rj the mayor as his cabinet 

228 



A 



APPENDIX 2 

(c) One deputy and one secretary to each princi- 

pal executive officer. 

(d) Superintendents, principals, and teachers in 

the school system of the city.^ 

(e) All judges and one secretary to each/ 

The classified service shall include all other positions 
now existing or hereafter created. 

Sec. 4. The commission shall prescribe, amend, and 
enforce rules for the classified service, v^hich shall have 
the force and effect of law, shall keep minutes of its pro- 
ceedings and records of its examinations, and shall make 
investigations concerning the enforcement and effect of 
this chapter and of the rules. It shall make an annual 
report to mayor.^ 

The rules shall provide: 

(i) For the classification of all positions in the 
classified service. 

(2) For open, competitive examinations to test 

the relative fitness of applicants for such 
positions. 

(3) For public advertisement of all examinations 

at least ten days in advance in at least one 
newspaper of general circulation and by 
posting a notice in the city hall. 

officers or committees to help him determine policies and supervise the 
departments. The expert heads should be permanent, under civil 
service rules, entrusted with and held responsible for the drawing, 
assignment and execution of contracts and the discipline of employees 
under them, so as to take contracts and places wholly out of politics. 
The selection of these heads should be either by promotion, or by 
open competition on a basis of inquiry into education, training and 
actual experience, conducted with the aid of independent experts 
selected by and acting under a civil service commission. (See re- 
ports of Special Committee on the Application of the Merit System 
to the Higher Municipal Officers, published by the National Civil 
Service Reform League.) 

^ Only where the school system is under the jurisdiction of a 
school board distinct from the city government. 

"^ It is customary, but not necessary, to include also in the unclassi- 
fied service employees of the legislative branch. Certainly this should 
not be done in commission-governed cities. 

8 Or "council." 

229 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

(4) For the creation of eligible lists upon which 

shall be entered the names of successful 
candidates in the order of their standing 
in examination. Such lists shall remain 
in force not longer than two years. 

(5) For the rejection of candidates or eligibles 

who fail to comply with the reasonable re- 
quirements of the commission in regard to 
age, residence, sex, physical condition or 
who have been guilty of crime or of infa- 
mous or disgraceful conduct or who have 
attempted any deception or fraud in con- 
nection with an examination. 

(6) For the appointment of the person ^ standing 

highest on the appropriate list to fill a 
vacancy. 

(7) For a period of probation not to exceed six 

months before appointment or promotion 
is made complete, during which period a 
probationer may be discharged or reduced 
with the consent of the commission. 

(8) For temporary employment without examina- 

tion, with the consent of the commission, 
in cases of emergency and pending appoint- 
ment from an eligible list. But no such 
temporary employment shall continue 
longer than sixty days nor shall successive 
temporary employments be allowed. 

(9) For transfer from one position to a similar 

position in the same class and grade and 
for reinstatement within one year of per- 

^ Or "of one of the three persons." The state constitution in New 
York has been hejld to require the certification of more than one name 
for each vacancy and in New York, Massachusetts, the Federal serv- 
ice and frequently elsewhere the rule for certifying three names is in 
force. The rule for certifying the highest name only is best suited 
to small cities where candidates are few. It is, however, the rule in 
Chicago. 

230 



APPENDIX 2 

sons who without fault or delinquency on 
their part are separated from the service or 
reduced. 

(lo) For promotion based on competitive exami- 
nation and records of efficiency, character, 
conduct, and seniority. Lists shall be cre- 
ated and promotions made therefrom in 
the same manner as prescribed for original 
appointment. An advancement in rank or 
an increase in salary beyond the limit fixed 
for the grade by the rules shall constitute 
promotion. Whenever practicable vacan- 
cies shall be filled by promotion. 

(ii) For suspensions for not longer than thirty 
days and for leaves of absence. 

(12) For discharge or reduction in rank or com- 

pensation after appointment or promotion 
is complete only after the person to be 
discharged or reduced has been presented 
with the reasons for such discharge or re- 
duction, specifically stated, and has been 
allowed a reasonable time to reply thereto 
in writing. The reasons and the reply 
must be filed as a record with the com- 
mission. 

(13) For the appointment of unskilled laborers in 

the order of priority of application after 
such tests of fitness as the commission may 
prescribe. 

(14) For the adoption and amendment of rules 

only after public notice and hearing. The 
commission shall adopt such other rules, 
not inconsistent with the foregoing pro- 
visions of this section, as may be necessary 
and proper for the enforcement of this 
chapter. 

231 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 5. In case of a vacancy in a position requiring 
peculiar and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, 
professional, or expert character, upon satisfactory evi- jl 
dence that competition is impracticable and that the 
position can best be filled by the selection of some desig- 
nated person of recognized attainments, the commission 
may, after public hearing and by the affirmative vote of 
all three commissioners, suspend competition, but no 
such suspension shall be general in its application to ; 
such position and all such cases of suspension shall be I 
reported, together with the reason therefor, in the an- ' 
nual reports of the commission. ] 



Sec. 6. All examinations shall be impartial and 
shall deal with the duties and requirements of the 
position to be filled. When oral tests are used a com- 
plete record of questions and answers shall be made. ' 
Examinations shall be in charge of the chief examiner j 
except when members of the commission act as exam- 1 
iners. The commission may call on other persons to 
draw up, conduct, or mark examinations and when such ■ 
persons are connected with the city service it shall be 1 
deemed a part of their official duty to act as examiners ; 
without extra compensation. l 



Sec. 7. All persons in the city service holding posi- 
tions in the classified service as established by this chap- 
ter at the time it takes efifect shall retain their positions 
until discharged, reduced, promoted, or transferred in 
accordance therewith. The commission shall maintain 
a civil list of all persons in the city service showing in 
connection with each name the position held, the date 
and character of every appointment and of every sub- 
sequent change in status. Each appointing officer shall 
promptly transmit to the commission all information re- 

232 



APPENDIX 2 

quired for the establishment and maintenance of said 
civil list. 

Sec. 8. No treasurer or other public disbursing 
officer shall pay any salary or compensation for service 
to any person holding a position in the classified service 
unless the payroll or account for such salary or com- 
pensation shall bear the certificate of the commission 
that the persons named therein have been appointed or 
employed and are performing service in accordance with 
the provisions of this chapter and of the rules estab- 
lished thereunder. Any taxpayer of the city may 
maintain an action in any civil court of record to recover 
for the city treasury any sums paid contrary to the 
provisions of this section from the person or persons 
authorizing such payment or to enjoin the commission 
from attaching its certificate to a payroll or account for 
services rendered in violation of the provisions of this 
chapter or of the rules established thereunder. 

Sec. 9. In any investigation conducted by the com- 
mission it shall have the power to subpoena and require 
the attendance of witnesses and the production thereby 
of books and papers pertinent to the investigation and 
to administer oaths to such witnesses. 

Sec. 10. No person in the classified service, or seek- 
ing admission thereto, shall be appointed, reduced or 
removed or in any way favored or discriminated against 
because of his political opinions or affiliations. 

Sec. II. No officer or employee of the city shall, 
directly or indirectly, solicit or receive, or be in any 
manner concerned in soliciting or receiving any assess- 
ment, subscription or contribution for any political party 
or political purpose whatever. No person shall, orally 
or by letter, solicit, or be in any manner concerned in 
soliciting, any assessment, subscription or contribution 

233 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

for any political party or purpose whatever from any 
person holding a position in the classified service. } 

Sec. 12. No person holding a position in the classi- 
fied service shall take any part in political management 
or affairs or in political campaigns further than to cast 
his vote and to express privately his opinions. 

Sec. 13. Any person willfully violating any of the 
provisions of this chapter, or of the rules established j 
thereunder shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.^^ f 

^° In case the general penal laws of the state do not provide a pen- 
alty for general misdemeanors for jvhich no special penalty is pro- 
vided, a specific penalty should be provided in this section. | 



APPENDIX 3 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE 

Introduction. The following note makes no pretense 
of presenting an exhaustive bibliography of material re- 
lating to problems of personnel. It has for its purpose 
merely to point out, under appropriate headings, the 
more important publications bearing upon the subject of 
personnel administration to which the general student 
may refer in seeking information on the subject. 
Bibliographies. Much the most comprehensive bibli- 
ography of works dealing with public personnel matters 
is that published by the Women's Auxiliary to the Civil 
Service Reform Association at New York, under the 
title Bibliography of Civil Service Reform and Related 
Subjects. The third edition of this work appeared in 

1913. 

Another bibliography of value is that contained in 
the Twenty-first Report of the United States Civil 
Service Commission, 1905, the title of which is List of 
References on the Civil Service. This list was pre- 
pared at the request of the Commission by A. P. C. 
Griffin, Chief Bibliographer of the Congressional 
Library. The statement is made that this list is "a 
continuation and, in some measure, a revision of the list 
previously prepared by the Civil Service Commission." 

For special bibliographies relative to civil service re- 
tirement and teachers' pension systems, see bibli- 
ographies contained in Principles Governing the Retire- 
ment of Public Employees, by Lewis Meriam, and 
Teachers' Pension Systems in the United States^ by 
Paul Studensky, both of which represent volumes pre- 

23s 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

pared by the Institute for Government Research and 
pubHshed on its behalf by D. Appleton & Co., the former 
in 19 1 8 and the latter in 1920. 

British Conditions. The information regarding civil 
service conditions in Great Britain and the movement 
for civil service reform in that country is of value since 
the experience of England has been largely drawn upon 
in promoting the cause of civil service reform in this 
country. The official British "Blue Books" contain a 
wealth of material on the subject. 

Special mention should be made of the Reports of 
the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the 
Civil Establishment (1887-90), and the Reports of the 
Royal Commission on the Civil Service (1912-1915). 

For an excellent account of the movement for civil 
service reform in England, see Dorman B. Eaton's well 
known work, Civil Service in Great Britain: A History 
of Abuses and Reforms and Their Bearing upon 
American Politics. The author, while Chairman of the 
United States Civil Service Commission under Presi- 
dent Hayes, spent a year in London, at his own expense, 
studying the civil service question of England. The re- 
sults of his studies were transmitted to Congress in the 
form of a report that was published as a House Docu- 
ment in 1879. This report was later republished by 
Harper and Bros, both in book form and as an issue in 
their "P'ranklin Square Library." 

A more recent work dealing with British conditions 
is The Civil Service of Great Britain, by Robert Moses, 
one of the Columbia studies in History, Economics, and 
Public Law, published in 19 14. In this work emphasis 
is placed on the success of the system of competitive 
examination and the parallel with the United States. 

A work of great value dealing with a special phase 
of the personnel problem is A. Lawrence Lowell's 
Colonial Civil Service (1900), which describes and dis- 

236 



APPENDIX 3 

cusses the system of selecting and training "Colonial 
officials in England, Holland, and France." 

Recently a number of valuable reports have been 
prepared by certain of the British dominions dealing 
with their personnel systems. Especially noteworthy 
are: The Classification of the Civil Service in Canada, 
prepared under the direction of the Civil Service Com- 
mission of Canada by authority of the Parliament of 
Canada (1919), and The Report of the Royal Commis- 
sion on PuJblic Service Administration, Commonwealth 
of Australia ( 1920) 

The special reports of the Civil Service Commissions 
of the British Dominions and Colonies also contain 
much information of value to American students. 
Civil Service Reform Movement in the United States. 
There is a wealth of material bearing upon the move- 
ment for civil service reform in the United States. 
This material is contained in the annual reports of the 
civil service commissions, national, state, and munic- 
ipal, the proceedings and other publications of civil 
service reform associations, periodicals dealing with 
public affairs, and privately published works. The 
Bibliography of Civil Service Reform and Related Sub- 
jects, published by the Women's Auxiliary to the Civil 
Service Reform Association at New York, lists most of 
this material that is of value. Here reference will be 
made only to certain outstanding publications. 

Of especial importance are the annual reports of the 
United States Civil Service Commission, the Thirty- 
seventh of which was published in 1920. The earlier 
reports were longer than later issues, were of a less 
formal character, and contained more information of a 
general character relative to the progress of civil service 
reform in the United States. The Twenty-first Report, 
published in 1905, gives in chronological order refer- 
ences to United States Congressional Documents and, 

237 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

in a separate list, the reports bearing on the sub- 
ject issued by the executive services of the United 
States. 

Special mention may also be made of the reports 
of^ the civil service commissions of the states of 
Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin, and 
those of the cities of Chicago, New York, and Los 
Angeles. 

Among non-official publications, the most important 
are those issued by the National Civil Service Reform 
League. The Bibliography of Civil Service Reform 
and Related Subjects, to which reference has been made, 
contains a section setting forth in detail the Publica- 
tions of Civil Service Reform, Associations and Other 
Organizations, and gives the contents of each of the 
annual reports of proceedings of the National Civil 
Service Reform League and the affiliated local bodies. 
The National Civil Service Reform League publishes a 
monthly entitled Good Government. This periodical 
was first issued in 1892 and represents a consolidation 
of the Civil Service Record, published by the Civil Ser- 
vice Reform Association of Baltimore and Cambridge 
from 1 88 1 to 1892 and the Civil Service Reformer, pub- 
lished in Baltimore from 1881 to 1892. 

Among works of private authorship, especial men- 
tion should be made of The Federal Service: A Study of 
the System of Personnel Administration by the United 
States Government, by Lewis Mayers, Studies in 
Administration, Institute for Government Research, 
192 1 ; Orations and Addresses, by George William 
Curtis, published in two volumes in 1894, the second 
volume of which contains addresses on civil service re- 
form matters; Fighting the Spoilsman, by William 
Dudley Foulke, published in 1919; and The Civil Service 
and the Patronage, by Carl Russell Fish, published in 
1905. 

238 



Ji 



APPENDIX 3 

Classification and Standardization of Civil Service Em- 
ployees. All of the earlier literature relative to civil 
service matters concerns itself almost wholly with the 
problem of the abolition of the spoils system through the 
introduction of the merit system in selecting employees, 
and the prohibition of improper political activities on the 
part of public officers and employees. Only within 
recent years have studies been made regarding the other 
phases of the personnel problem. Of these studies, the 
most important are those having for their purpose to 
establish a standard classification of employees as a basis 
upon which to determine compensation and to handle 
other problems of personnel administration. Within 
the past few years a number of exceedingly important 
official reports have been published regarding this mat- 
ter. Among these the most important are: Report of 
the Congressional Joint Commission on Reclassification 
of Salaries, submitted to Congress on March 12, 1920; 
Report of the Senate Committee on Civil Service of the 
Government of the State of New York, 1916; Report 
on the Reclassification of Salary Grades and Rates of 
New York City, published by the New York Bureau of 
Standards, 19 16; and Classification of the Civil Service 
of Canada, made under the direction of the Civil Service 
Commission of Canada, 1919, to which reference has 
already been made. 

On this subject, see also various articles appearing 
in the periodical, Municipal Research, published by the 
New York Bureau of Municipal Research, and the 
article "Employment Standardization in the Public 
Service," by William C. Beyer, in the National Munic- 
ipal Review, volume ix, June, 1920, which reviews the 
progress in this field up to approximately the date of its 
publication, though it does not include a discussion of 
the federal report. 
Special Studies. During the war the federal govern- 

239 



PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION 

ment found itself confronted with many problems of 
employment management. The results of its studies 
having in view the solution of these problems have been 
in part published. The most important of these publi- 
cations are: Handbook on Employment Methods, 1919, 
Training Ship-yard Workers, 19 19, and Organising the 
Employment Department 19 18, issued by the United 
States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation; 
and The Personnel System of the United States Army, 
19 1 9, issued by the War Department. 



INDEX 



Advancement in the Civil Service, 
177-178; administration of, 178- 
179 ; Congressional Joint Commis- 
sion on, 177; distinguished from 
promotion, 177-178; New York 
State report on, 1916, 177; provi- 
sion for, 178-179. See also Pro- 
motion in the Civil Service. 

Army, Committee on Classification 
of Personnel, 122; trade tests of, 
125-126; written tests of, 122-123. 

Bibliography, 235-240. 

Bureau of Standards of New York 

City, standard specifications for 

personnel service, 55n. 

Chicago Municipal Efficiency Com- 
mission and standardization, 41- 
42. 

Civil Servants, Mayers, Lewis, on, 
176; status of, 176. 

Civil Service Act of 1883 (U. S.), 
purpose of, 5-7; Act of New Jer- 
sey, 147. 

Civil Service Commission, appoint- 
merit, 27-29; classification of, 195- 
200; compensation, 20; composi- 
tion, 27-29; establishment in vari- 
ous states, 5-6; executive func- 
tions, 36-38; extension of func- 
tions, 22-25 ; legal status, 27 ; of 
Illinois, 33 ; organization of, 38- 
40; qualifications of commission- 
ers, 28-29; quasi-judicial func- 
tions, 34-36 ; quasi-legislative 
functions, 31-34; tenure, 28-30; 
Wisconsin commission biennial 
circular, 148. 

Civil Service examinations. See 
Examinations. 

Civil Service legislation, draft of a 
standard law for states and cities, 
28, 201-235. 

Classification of public personnel, 
23, 90-105; basic features of, 41- 
46, 72 ; by the Committee on Clas- 
sification of Personnel in the 
Army, 122-123, 125-126; classifi- 
cation chart, 99-100; Congres- 



sional Joint Commission activities, 
100-105; formulation of, 90-105; 
positions classified, 23, 32-34, 49- 
50; primary work elements, 94- 
99; principle of, 50-51; Wiscon- 
sin method, 94-99. 

Compensation establishment of ade- 
quate and uniform, 17-18. 

Congressional Joint Commission, 
advancement concerning, 179; ad- 
vancement and promotion distin- 
guished by, 177; analysis of the 
national civil service by, 48, 50- 
52 ; classification questionnaire, 
80-83; clerical classification 100- 
105 ; compensation principles 
recommended, 56-58; methods of 
standardization inquiry, 66n; pro- 
cedure, 85n; promotion, concern- 
ing, 188; quoted, 9, 10, 12; re- 
port of, 177; salaries, report on 
reclassification of, 9; standardiza- 
tion, report on, 44-46, So, I57n; 
sympathy of employees with, 69. 

Efficiency ratings, 162-172; best sys- 
tem of, 166 ; Chicago Civil Service 
Commission, 167; conditions re- 
quired for, 167; control of, 168; 
effect of, 171-172; how often to 
be made, 170; inspection by em- 
ployees, 170-171 ; intervals be- 
tween, 170; need of, 162; New 
York City system of, 164-171; 
organization for, 168-169; Port- 
land system of, 167-168; prep- 
aration of, 169-170; rating sys- 
tem of, 167; reasons for, 162; 
supervision of, 168; systems of, 
164-168; use of, 171-172. 

Employees' representation, 189-194; 
administrative channels and, 193; 
Congressmen and, 192-193; ef- 
fect of, 193; influence on admin- 
istrative channels, 193; influence 
on Congress, 193; movement for, 
191 ; National Federation of Fed- 
eral Employees Union, 191-192; 
selection of, 111-150; training for, 
24; transfer of, 21. 



241 



INDEX 



Employment, early conditions, 2; 
history, 1-8; number of employees 
in government service, i, 2, 4, 7- 
8; recent conditions, 4; relation to 
private enterprise, i ; spoils sys- 
tem, 2. 

Examinations for the civil service, 
111-148; advertising of, 146-148; 
in New Jersey, 147; in Wiscon- 
sin, 148; appointment after, 126, 
148-150; army trade tests, 126- 
127; by Committee on Classi- 
fication of Personnel in the 
Army, 122-123, 125-126; certifica- 
tion after, 148-150; competitive, 
112-113; correlation in, 124; edu- 
cation ratings, 139; examining 
agency, 113-115; exemption from, 
33 ;_ experience, defined, 135; ex- 
perience in related occupations, 
137 ; ^ experience in vocational 
training or education; 137-138; 
experience rating, 135-139; ex- 
perience rating methods, 138-139; 
experience rating scale, 136; ex- 
perience standard, 136; factors of, 
115-121; intelligence tests, 130- 
133; methods, 116-121; methods 
of appointment after, 150; meth- 
ods _ of preparing, 124; Minne- 
apolis Civil Service Commission, 
143; moral characteristics, 146; 
Moulton, William B., on exemp- 
tion from, 33 ; National Assembly 
of Civil Service Commission, 1919, 
I43n_; National Assembly of Civil 
Service Commissions report, 1919, 
114; non-competitive, 113; New 
York Civil Service Commission, 
examinations, 140-141 ; oral exam- 
inations 141-146; performance 
tests, 133-135 ; personal attri- 
butes, 144; personal examinations, 
141-146; practical examinations, 
133-135; physical examination, 
139- 141 ; in New York, 140; in 
police and fire departments, 140; 
Saxton, H. N., on, 127-129, I43n; 
trade tests, 127-129; Watson, Max, 
on trade tests, 127-129; weights 
to various factors, 116-121; 
Wheeler, Forest, on, 143 ; 
Wheeler, Forest, quoted, 143; 
Whitman, J. C, on intelligence 
tests, 131 ; written examinations, 
121-133; purpose of, 122-123. 



Illinois Civil Service Commission, 
negative powers of, 33. 



Intelligence tests, 130-133; Link, 
Harry C, on, 131-133; Whitman, 
J. C, on, 131. 

Lane,_ Franklin K., on methods in 
national administration, 12, 13, 62. 

Link, Harry C, on intelligence 
tests, 131-133; on moral qualities, 
146; reference to, I24n, I44n. 

Mayers, Lewis, on status of civil 
servants, 176. 

Meriam, Lewis, on retirement of 
public employees, 60. 

Merit system, 5-7, 13-16, 20-22. 

Messick, Charles P., report by, 117- 
121. 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Com- 
pany, on promotion, 156. 

Moral qualities in personnel. Link, 
Harry C, on, 146. 

Moulton, William B., on exemption 
from examinations, 33. 

National Civil Service Reform As- 
sociation, 5; draft of a standard 
law by, 201-235; report of, 1919, 
114; Saxton, H. N., I43n. 

National Federation of Federal 
Employees Union, 191-192; con- 
stitution of, 191-192; purpose of, 
191-192; scope of, 191; strength 
of, 191. 

New Jersey Civil Service Act, 147. 

New York City Bureau of Stand- 
ards, 55n; standard specifications 
for personnel service, S5n. 

New York City Civil Service Com- 
mission, 32-33; report of, 177. 

New York Senate Committee on 
Civil Service, 33; field notes of, 
84; recommendations for classifi- 
cation, 49, 52-54; report of, 182; 
standardization inquiry, 86-87n. 

New York State, 76-78, 182 ; promo- 
tion in, 182; questionnaire on 
civil service record of employees, 
76-78. 

Pensions, for public employees, es- 
tablishment of, 19; Meriam, 
Lewis, positions in, 19; promo- 
tions, 184; quoted, 60; recom- 
mended, 59-61. 

Personnel, classification of in the 
army, 122-23, 125-126. 

Personnel service, specifications by 
the New York City Bureau of 
Standards, 55n. 



242 



INDEX 



Promotion in the Civil Service, 173- 
188; administration of, 185-188; 
advancement distinguished from, 
177, 178; and training, 184-185; 
as a revi^ard, 173-175 ; basis of, 
180-181, 186-188; benefits of, 175; 
by competitive examination, 187- 
188; competitive examination for, 
187-188; condition of, 174-175; 
Congressional Joint Comimission 
on, 188; control of, 186; effect of, 
173-175 ; examinations for, 187- 
188; factor in, 187; inter-depart- 
mental, 181-183; inter-govern- 
mental, 185; Mayers, Lewis, on, 
176; Metropolitan Life Insurance 
Company on, 156; New York 
State system of, 182; opportuni- 
ties for, 20-22; provisions for 
180-185; retirement and, 184; 
requisites of improvement, 175- 
177 ; reward of, 173-175 ; supervi- 
sion of, 186; training and, 184- 
185. See also Advancement in 
the Civil Service, 177-178. 

Public service, recruiting for, iir- 
151- 

Ratings. See Efficiency Ratings. 

Recruiting for the public, 111-151. 

Representation of employees, 189- 
194. 

Retirement system, 19, 21, 22; es- 
tablishment of, 19; Meriam, 
Lewis, positions in, 19; promo- 
tions, 184; quoted, 60; recom- 
mended, 59-61. 

Roosevelt, Franklin D., on duplica- 
tion of administrative work, 12. 

Standardization by the Chicago 
Municipal Efficiency Commission, 
41-42. 

Standards, Bureau of New York 
City, on specifications for person- 
nel service, ssn. 

Standard law, draft of a, 28. 

Spoils system, 2-3. 

Selection of employees, ni-150. 

Standardization, adoption of, 4.7; 
applied by Civil Service Commis- 
sion, 47; appraisal of employ- 
ments, 107-108; appraisal of posi- 
tions out of grade, no; appraisal 
of staff examiners, 108; benefits 
of, 44-46; budget and, 61; Chi- 
cago standardization in, 41 ; cities 
and states standardization in, 42; 
classification chart, 99-100; com- 



pensation, 105-107 ; compensation 
determined, 105-107; compensa- 
tion under, 43, 54-59; conduct of 
standardization inquiry, 65 ; Con- 
gressional Joint Commission re- 
port, on, 44; economy and effi- 
ciency of, (y2; enforcement of 
standards, 63, 64 ; history of, 41 ; 
primary work elements, 94-99; 
principal features of, 48-62; pro- 
visions of, 43 ; purpose of, 41 ; 
results of, 46-47; retirement in- 
cluded, 59-61; results of, 46-47; 
revision of standards, 62-63 ; 
standardization movement, 8 ; 
system of, 54-55- 

Standardization agency, (^T, coop- 
eration with other factors, 68- 
70; cooperation facilities for, 70- 
74; legal status of, 6t, publicity 
of, 67-68. 

Standardization facilities, 70-83 ; 
appraisal of employments, ap- 
praisal of positions out of grade, 
no; Bureau of Municipal Re- 
search, y-^ ; citizen groups, 74 ; 
civic agencies, T2)\ Civil Service 
Commission, "jz; collection of 
data, 74; Congressional Joint 
Committee on, 83; departmental 
conferences, 70; executive depart- 
ments, 70; New York City ques- 
tionnaire on, 75-78; other gov- 
ernments, 74; private employers, 
73-74; questionnaires, 75-78; ques- 
tionnaire of Congressional Joint 
Commission, 80-83 ; questionnaire 
of New York City inquiry, 75-78; 
research agencies, local, 73 ; spe- 
cialists outside of the service, 105- 
107; studies of organization, 85. 

Standardization inquiry, 65-110; ap- 
praisal of employments, 107-108; 
appraisal of positions out of 
grade, no; civil service examina- 
tions, 89-90; classification, formu- 
lation of, 90-105; clerical classi- 
fication, 100-105 ; conditions gov- 
erning promotion; Congressional 
Joint Commission, 100-105 ; ex- 
aminations for promotion, 80; 
facilities for inquiry, 70-74; field 
notes, 84; methods of inquiry, 65- 
iio; staff examiners' work, 83-85, 
108-110; standards of examina- 
tions, 90; specialists outside of the 
civil service to participate in, 105- 
107; special staff assistants, (>T, 
special staff for, 65-66; special 



243 



INDEX 



staflFs in various cities, 66; special 
staff's methods, 66n. 

Tenure of Office Act, 2. 

Trade tests of Committee on Classi- 
fication of Personnel in the Army, 
125-126; in examinations, 127- 
129; Watson, Max, on, 127-129. 

Training for the Public Service, 
apprenticeship idea, 158; Bureau 
of Efficiency proposals for school, 
158-159; Bureau of Internal Rev- 
enue, 157; Bureau of Municipal 
Research of New York, 153; 
Bureau of Printing and Engrav- 
ing, 157; Bureau of Standards, 
157; Central training school, 159- 
160; colleges and university 
courses for, 151-161 ; College of 
the City New York, 157-158; 
Columbia University, 152; educa- 
tional facilities for, 151-153; 
Harvard Medical School, 152; 
Interstate Commerce Commission, 
157; Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, 152 ; Metropolitan 
Life Insurance Company, 156; 
Michigan, University of, 153; 
Minnesota, University of, 153; 
National Institute of Public Ad- 



ministration, 153; New York 
Board of Education, 157; New 
York Training School for pub- 
lic service, 153; Pratt Institute, 
152; retirement and training, 184- 
185 ; school for national em- 
ployees proposed, 158; special 
training, 154-155; training school 
for public service of New York, 
153 ; Virginia, University of, 153 ; 
Washington Navy Yard, 157; 
Washington service 158; Wash- 
ington training school proposed 
in, 158-160; Wisconsin, progress 
in, I57n; Wisconsin, University 
of, 153. 

Transfer of employees, 21. 

Turnover, 10. 

Watson, Max, on rules for prepar- 
ing trade test questions, 127-128; 
example of trade test, 128-129. 

Wheeler Forest, on the conduct of 
oral examinations, 143. 

Whitman, J. C, on intelligence 
tests, 131. 

Wisconsin Civil Service Commis- 
sion biennial circular, contents of, 
148. 










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